The 'Noble' House of Black: The Chamber of Secrets
by Ash B Bramble
Summary: There's nothing worse than being the half-blood daughter of the raging lunatic that was Sirius Black. Except, maybe, being accused of being the one suspected of opening the Chamber of Secrets despite her ineligibility. It was going to be a long year for the Malfoy ward. (OC Lillian M. Black returns for this second installment)
1. Dark Beginnings and a Sneaky Elf

_**AN:**_

Here you go! The official start to The Chamber of Secrets; I'll try to post on a weekly basis; but, as with all thing, nothing is certain, but I can promise to try my best. :)

I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Enjoy!

x

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**SideNote:** To the guest who once asked if I could PM my responses to reviewers, if you're still reading I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the inconvenience this may give you, but I can't keep up with the reviews I have responded to by PM - so, again, I apologize in advance. I will, however, put responses to reviews at the bottom of the chapter instead of before it just in case that makes a difference.

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Lucius gave his son a fraction of his attention, nodding and speaking where necessary, but his mind was otherwise occupied.

He was a fool. A scared, idiotic fool; but what he did, he always did for the safety of his family, for the safety of those who depended on him, for those who lived under his roof.

Did he believe in all of the purist bullshit floating around? Maybe, once upon a time he had, but _now_? Now he didn't know _what_ to believe…he didn't _care_ what he believed in as long as it kept his family, and his self, safe from the impending darkness only few and far between were aware of.

Looking to his wife, who sat at the opposite end of their dining table; Lucius's studied the worried circles beneath her eyes, took in the buried worry of a mother for her children – and children _was_ the correct term.

His gaze then moved to his ward, the child of a brother-in-law that had been disowned and consequently caught in the crossfires of the first war, abandoning a half-blood child that could never fit in, wherever she was placed. She would forever be the daughter of the one who _supposedly_ murdered all that good wizards had been attempting to protect, or the mixed blood offspring with the diluted bloodlines all dark wizards had fought to eradicate from this world; a battle that was on its way to springing up once more – and there was no doubt in Lucius' mind that Lillian would escape this impending battle scathe free.

Lucius would never tell a soul, rarely even allowed himself to think it, but the fact that Lillian would be as big a target as Harry Potter – considering who her father is and what he had done – infuriated him.

Steely grey eyes suddenly turned to catch his own and he wondered what the young Slytherin could see; for Lillian was anything but stupid, she was far more intelligent than her father had ever been and Lucius had to concede that she probably owed her intelligence to her mother; not that Lucius could honestly recall her mother very well, just that she had been rather beautiful, despite her muggleborn heritage.

"How go your businesses, Lucius?" Lillian inquired once Draco had finished with his tale; and Lucius had the oddest suspicion that she was asking about more than just his financial prospects and earnings.

Eyes narrowing, he cast a glance to his son, knowing that if there were something he was missing about her inquiries, Draco would be the surest way to find out. Lucius, at first, had been relatively surprised by the relationship formed between the two, though he now knew their bond to be as unbreakable as that of true siblings, if not a might stronger than the ties of immediate blood.

Sure enough, Draco was looking at Lillian with a pursed mouth and narrowed eyes, a silent question in his expression that told Lucius that there was more to Lillian's query; which brought into question just _how_ she had come about the knowledge of anything else transpiring behind the financial frontier.

"Malfoy businesses continue to do well."

"And have you thought further on future transactions with European companies?"

"Draco?" Lucius prompted his son; for Lucius was grooming the boy to one day take over their various companies.

"Father has determined European trade to be of high priority and is thus looking into items and company revenues, as well as past financial history, in order to determine just which companies and products he wishes to bring into the Malfoy Industry."

Lillian gave a nod of understanding before turning to Lucius once more, "Have you found a cursebreaker yet for the item you acquired a few weeks ago?"

"I have not," Lucius didn't ask how she knew of any items acquired on his part; he had taken her on plenty of business meetings, and was highly aware that she always listened attentively, even _if_ she appeared to hear nothing.

"While I was at Gringotts yesterday with Narcissa, I overheard some of the goblins talking of a Mr. William Weasley, top of his class and one of their most talented cursebreakers. I know you don't particularly care for the Weasleys, especially Mr. Arthur Weasley, but his son is highly recommended and he works mostly out of Egypt, which I've noticed has a remarkably well-off transaction rate."

"I noticed in the London paper that Muggle doctors are looking to acquire more hard-to-acquire foreign herbs and creatures to create their medicines, and a few of the more heavily priced items can be found in Egypt." Draco informed Lucius; after all, Malfoy business didn't just extend to the wizarding realm, they extended to the muggle realm as well, which, in part, was why their wealth was so extensive.

And personally, Draco rather liked supplying to the hospitals what they couldn't otherwise get – he didn't know where the gratuitous feelings came from so he generally stuck to blaming Lillian for his want to provide doctors, muggle or wizard, with the things they needed in order to save lives otherwise lost.

"Lillian, is there anything I should know concerning our gatherings with the other witches?" Narcissa inquired with raised brows, curious to know if Lillian's knowledge extended beyond the means of business.

"Lady Mena is pregnant, Mister and Lady Alini have recently come into some wealth, and Lady Deverity has a taste for books solely meant for the romantic sort." Lillian had, of course, noticed more than just those things, but the more sensitive material she kept to herself; like the fact that Mister Caro was having an affair with Lady Wilkins, the Patters were seeking counseling for their marriage, and that Lady Goyle had just suffered from a miscarriage – trivial matters she had no qualms about sharing, but matters more serious were not hers to share, even if she did take notice of them.

Narcissa, admittedly, was surprised by the nature of what Lillian had noticed, surprised and _impressed_. Most of the time, Narcissa herself could barely pay attention to any of the things the women at their functions spouted off; and looking at Lillian then – young, beautiful, and intelligent – Narcissa knew that Lillian had what it took to survive, survive both as a woman _and_ as the daughter of Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon. Narcissa could only hope that any challenge the young girl would have to face, she wouldn't have to face alone.

As Draco began another recounting of something he, Crabbe, and Goyle had done a few days ago, Lillian rose from her seat; gathering everyone's dinner plates as she went for the kitchen – for though the plate gathering was generally a task for the house elves, Lillian had taught Narcissa and Lucius years before that though she could tolerate it in formal settings, she would _not_ stand to be waited on when the situation really didn't require it of her.

She was even more thankful that she had decided to take the dishes when she had, because when she stepped into the kitchen, it was to find Dobby just about to slam his extra-large ears into the oven.

"_Dobby_ _Black!"_ She near shouted immediately upon her entrance; the dining room too far away for her voice to have carried.

Dobby wheeled around near immediately, bulging green eyes blinking up at her with tears in their depths; she only ever used his full name – his surname something she had given him when she was no more than a small child – when she was upset with him, and because she was so rarely upset with him, it succeeded in immediately halting his attempt at self-inflicting pain.

"_What_ do you think you're doing?"

"D-Dobby w-was p-punishing himself, Mistress Lillian."

Before she bent down to his level, she set her armful of dishes into the sink, "_Why_, Dobby, were you punishing yourself?"

"B-because Dobby did a _very_ bad thing Mistress Lillian!" He wailed, small mouth trembling as he went to open the stove once more.

"You shut that oven door right now Dobby Black." She commanded, "And you aren't to open it with the purpose to shut it on your ears ever again, am I clear, Dobby?"

A wet sniffle, "Y-yes Mistress Lillian."

Taking note of the dark coloring around his forehead and eyes, she frowned, "Why have you punished yourself Dobby?" She inquired gently, hands lifting to finger the discoloration that she knew was caused from his own self-inflicted beatings.

"D-Dobby did a very, _very_ bad this Mistress Lillian."

"Enough with the Mistress-ing Dobby," She informed as she continued to softly stroke the bruises, "Tell me what you did."

"I-I went to Master Potter's home to beware him of Hogwarts!" He wailed again, and though Lillian was mildly surprised Dobby had done such a thing, she was more curious about the situation than she was anything else.

"Why would you warn him away from Hogwarts, Dobby?"

His head spinning wildly around, Lillian withdrew her hands from his bruises as his eyes grew ever larger, "_Because_," He whispered insistently, "There is a plot. A plot to make most _terrible_ things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

Lillian didn't ask how Dobby came about this knowledge, nor did she doubt the truth of his words – she lived in the Malfoy Manor, and she was well aware that Lucius Malfoy had once been a Death Eater; and if that _wasn't_ enough to validate Dobby's claims, Lillian had her own suspicions concerning Lucius and the Dark Lord.

She had seen the shadows in Narcissa's eyes, the white-knuckled grips Lucius had shown when reading certain letters brought by strange men or arrived by strange methods; she had noted the circles beginning to darken Lucius's eyes and the sudden secrecy of meetings behind closed doors.

She had known that something was brewing, Dobby had merely given her the little proof she didn't really need to know for sure that trouble was indeed coming, and coming straight for Harry Potter.

"You realize, Dobby, that what you did was very dangerous, and had any of the Malfoy's learned of your absence, you would have been severely punished?" Lillian inquired, because though she had a fondness for the house elf, even Draco would have turned him into his father; for Dobby had betrayed his masters, and Draco would _never_ tolerate insubordination in regards to his father; not unless it was Lillian who was the one being insubordinate.

"Y-yes, I understand, b-but Master Harry Potter _had_ to be warned!"

Knowing Dobby wouldn't have stopped at a mere warning, she quirked a brow at him, "What did you do to Harry Potter, Dobby?"

"I-I dumped pudding on his nasty relatives guest," He shouted quickly, hands going to his ears and tugging ruthlessly until she gently reached up to pry his bony hands away.

"Did you do anything else, Dobby?"

"I…I stole'd his letters." He whispered ashamedly, "Dobby figured had Master Potter known his friends were writing to him, he wouldn't agree to not return to Hogwarts."

Lillian pursed her lips; so her god-brother had gone all summer thinking his friends had abandoned him and weren't really his friends at all – it was a summer she didn't envy.

"Do you have Harry's letters, Dobby?"

A quick nod as he reached beneath one of her old pillowcases to bring it out; it was a rather thick stack of letters that told Lillian that Harry had gotten himself some pretty decent friends – but she guessed that that was what happened when you faced the dark lord with aforementioned friends.

"Dobby, will you put those letters in the drawer of my desk please?" She would return to Harry the letters when she next saw him; figured it was the least she could do for the trouble she was sure Dobby had gotten him into, and even though it was four weeks before second year started, wasn't the saying better late than never?

Dobby gave a dejected nod, "Is Miss Lillian mad with Dobby?"

"No, Dobby, I'm not mad at you, but you have to _promise_ me you'll be more careful."

"Of course, Miss Lillian." He agreed with an exuberant nod.

"Good," She offered him a small smile, giving a kiss to his bruised forehead before rising to her feet, "Help me with the desert Dobby?"

"Yes Miss Lillian."

"Thank you, Dobby."

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**And there it was! The first chapter! :)**

**Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**x**


	2. Knockturn Alley and Bad Blood

_**AN:**_

I'll try to post on a weekly basis; but, as with all thing, nothing is certain, but I can promise to try my best. :)

I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Enjoy!

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you three as well! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

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Nose still stinging from where it had hit the hearth, Harry, as quietly as he could, slipped out of the cabinet he had been hiding in, snuck past the glass cases, and stepped out of the shop he had landed himself in after his first attempt at travel by floo powder.

Clutching his broken glasses to his face, he couldn't help but to stare at his surroundings. He stood in a rather dingy alleyway that seemed to consist entirely of shops devoted to the Dark Arts. The one he'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked to be the largest, but opposite was a disturbingly grotesque window display of shrunken heads and, almost as bad, was a large cage brimming with gigantic black spiders two doors down.

Feeling anything but comfortable, he did his best to ignore the two shabby-looking wizards muttering to each other and watching him from the shadows of a doorway, in order to diligently search for some way out of the place he had unwittingly put himself in.

An old wooden street sign hanging over a shop selling poisonous candles told him he was in Knockturn Alley, not that the name of the alley did much to help him, for he had never heard of the place before. He supposed he hadn't spoken clearly enough through his mouthful of ashes back in the Weasleys' fireplace.

Trying his utmost to stay calm, he wondered just how he was supposed to find Ron and his family.

"Not lost are you, my dear?" Asked a voice in his ear, making him jump from fright.

When he turned, it was to see an aged witch standing before him, holding a tray of what looked horribly like whole human fingernails. Thoroughly unsettled, it didn't help that she was leering at him with mossy teeth.

Backing away, he struggled for words, "I'm fine, thanks. I'm just – "

"He's just leaving." Came the cool, young voice of his savior; his head jerked to the side, more than a little surprised to find Draco's cousin Lillian standing beside him.

What was even more surprising, to him at least, was that even though she was shorter than he was, the frightful witch seemed to cower back at her presence.

Lillian kept her focus on the old hag mere moments away from turning Harry into a snack, couldn't afford to turn her attention to Harry; to be in Knockturn Alley, meant to always be on guard.

"And I do believe I'll be the one to show him out, that won't be a problem, will it?" Lillian asked politely, even though she wasn't asking at all.

The hag's gaze flickered to the wand held loosely in Lillian's hand, her grip easy and comfortable, the hag flinched away, "Not at all."

Lillian waited for the Hag to turn her back and disappear down one of the many dark crannies of Knockturn Alley; sparing the two whispering wizards no more than a single glance, more than a little positive that the word 'Black' was being exchanged.

Finally, she turned her attention to the boy she had seen ducking, rather frantically, out of Borgin and Burkes just a few minutes prior.

He was covered in soot, his glasses were broken, and he seemed rather short of breath. All in all, he was relatively unscathed and she could only assume his rather foolish venture into the alleyway – an alleyway that could have very well been the death of him – had been an unsuccessful attempt at travel by floo powder.

Tapping her wand to the broken glasses in his hand, she ignored his shocked look as she tucked away her wand and headed for the entrance of the alley; hearing him fumble in his attempt to catch up.

"Knockturn Alley isn't a safe place to be Harry." She warned carefully.

"Then why were you here?" He questioned, it wasn't a demand, but the curiousness in his voice was tainted by a soft edge of Gryffindor self-righteousness.

"I'm not the boy-who-lived, Potter."

"So only _Malfoy's_ get to venture into dark and nasty alleys?"

"I'm not a Malfoy Harry," She corrected, "I'm a Black."

"What's the difference?" He questioned, this time with nothing but curiousness.

She didn't answer him, though what she would have said had they not been interrupted, she wasn't sure. There _was_ a difference, of that much she was positive, Lillian just wasn't sure whether or not the difference between being a Malfoy and a Black was if being a Black was worse than being a Malfoy; to Harry, when he finally learned just _who_ her father was and _what_ he had done, being a Black would forever be ten times worse than being a Malfoy could ever be.

But she was saved from answering when the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, the half-giant Hagrid, stumbled into them. It was as he began to chastise Harry, that Lillian silently took her leave; Harry not even noticing her absence before Hagrid was leading him away from Knockturn Alley. He did, however, catch a glimpse of her looking at the Magical Menagerie cat displays.

It was half an hour later that found Lillian running into Draco chatting with none other than Blaise at Flourish and Blotts. Blaise having spotted her first and pointing her out to Draco, who then left Blaise to meet her a few feet away.

"I was wondering where you had gone off to," Draco greeted, his eyes lightening as the worry left the twin pools of silver and he took her arm in his to drag her closer to where he had left Blaise standing. "We lost you in Knockturn, father was anything but pleased. You know it isn't a safe place." He spoke quietly into her ear, the loud bustle of the rather large crowd drowning his words so that even she barely heard him.

"It's not nearly as dangerous for myself as it is for anyone else." She countered, "But I'm sorry for having worried you."

He gave a small, if not slightly strained, smile before nodding to Blaise.

Lillian took a moment to take in Blaise's appearance, for the very few times she had seen him over the summer, it had been in mere passing.

He hadn't changed much, the only difference physically noticeable being the fact that he appeared to be a few inches taller than last she saw him.

"Blaise," She greeted with a small smile, "I trust your summer was well?"

He gave a nod in response, "Yours?"

"With this ray of light," She gestured to Draco beside her, "How could it be anything but?" She inquired, small smile spreading at the sight of Draco scowling from her peripheral, and at the smirk that pulled at Blaise's mouth, his golden caramel eyes lightening with restrained amusement.

"You've kept in touch with Maccabee?" He queried.

"I have," She agreed with a nod, "Devon sends her regards." Silver eyes flitting to the growing crowd, she felt her brows draw down, but before she could ask, Blaise was answering her unspoken ponderings.

"Gilderoy Lockhart is here, signing his autobiographies."

"A bloody fool," Draco stated from her right, eyes disdainfully taking in the gathered crowd.

"He must be doing something right if he has got so many women in such a frenzy." Lillian shrugged at the bewildered look Draco gave her; her attention focused on the rising discomfort she was feeling as the crowds gathered around them.

"Let's head towards the stairs, it looks to be free of all these blubbering idiots," Draco suggested, having seen the subtle terseness lining Lillian's shoulders as the crowd began to surge.

Nodding for Blaise to lead the way, Draco followed Lillian, making sure that any jostling from strangers hit his own self instead of her. It helped, though it did nothing for when someone bumped into the railing, causing Lillian's foot to slip, her hands reaching out to grip Blaise's robes before her.

A lean, mocha hand around her forearm helped to steady her, silver eyes rising to meet steady gold. Letting out a sigh of relief that she hadn't just gone tumbling up the narrow staircase, she offered Blaise a grateful smile, "Thank you." Looking to where she still clutched at the back of his robes, she winced when she pulled away to find a few crinkles in the immaculately pressed fabric.

"My apologies."

He shook his head, silently telling her that there was no need to apologize before continuing to lead them – a gentle but firm hand still around Lillian's arm – to the small plateau that overlooked the entirety of the store, a line of bookshelves at their backs. It was only when Lillian firmly had two feet planted to aforementioned plateau, that Blaise smoothly released her arm.

Lillian stood in between the two boys, shoulder-to-shoulder with both as they wordlessly watched the raging crowd below. They were Slytherins, they were more watchers than they were talkers.

It was on the plateau that Lillian spotted Gilderoy Lockhart. He was seated at a table surrounded by exceedingly large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the women surrounding him. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that perfectly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat set at a jaunty angle on his wavy blond hair that would have taken a muggle hours to perfect.

There was a short, irritable-looking man dancing around taking photographs of Lockhart with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every bright and blinding flash.

From her high vantage point, Lillian could even see the exact moment that Lockhart spotted Harry.

A rude snort from her right distracted her from whatever Lockhart began to spew off, "Harry _bloody_ Potter. He hasn't changed a bit, has he?"

Lillian rolled her eyes, "And it doesn't appear as if you have either."

"The crowd parts for him as if he's some god." Draco objected, as if that reason alone was enough to permit Draco to hate the Gryffindor.

Lillian watched Harry try to sneak back to Ron and Hermione, the attempt was rather futile, for Lockhart wouldn't release Harry until he'd squeezed every ounce of publicity possible from the situation.

"I can part a crowd, Draco, or have you forgotten? So can you, for that matter." The crowd parted for them both because of their fathers, Sirius because he was a murderer, a traitor; and Lucius because he generally instilled fear within every being he encountered.

"He's just…" Draco muttered, "He doesn't understand…not anything."

"Does anyone, cousin?" Lillian countered, leaning softly into his side to provide silent comfort, "You hail from a world far different than his. You cut yourself short when you compare yourselves, and it isn't fair to you. You don't have to outshine him, to be better than him."

Grey eyes met silver and the dejectedness Lillian found in that silver gaze infuriated her just as much as it saddened her. "Can a Malfoy ever be better than a Potter, Lillian?"

Before she could even think to answer the question that immediately brought to mind her earlier thoughts on her own name; Draco was descending the stairs, leaving her behind with an ever unmoving Blaise Zabini.

"Where is he going?"

_To punish Harry for something neither of them can change, at least not any time soon. To become, once more, the spoilt prat he chose to portray to all but a very select few._ There were many answers to Blaise's question, she settled for the simplest answer, "To give greetings to Gryffindor."

Without further explanation, they both turned their gazes to the scene that was quickly unfolding a safe distance away. Neither of them could hear what was being said, but words didn't need to be heard to pick up on the escalating tension; there was definitely a lot of blushing going on, both angry and embarrassed.

Lillian shut her eyes when she noticed Lucius and Arthur enter the scene, opening them just in time to see Arthur launch himself at Lucius with a face far more flushed than any Weasley had ever been to date.

Lillian found herself subtly leaning against Blaise as the two adult wizards staggered and fought their way over to one of the book cases just in front of the plateau they stood on; the Weasley clan following as the bookshop went deathly quiet.

It only ended when Hagrid stormed in, separating the two as if they were nothing but infants; except the ugly sneer marring Lucius' otherwise handsome features was anything but infantile; and Lillian watched, thoughts firing quickly as she noticed Lucius slip two books into the young Weasley girl's cauldron.

It wouldn't have been a big deal, had Lucius not taken just one book from her cauldron earlier.

Her suspicion warred within her, Dobby's warning words coming to the forefront of her mind, a game of cards had begun, and Lillian knew Lucius had just dealt the first hand.

'Yeh should have ignored him, Arthur," Hagrid's booming voice from just below her brought her attention away from her thoughts and to the half-giant and Weasley clan. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that – no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter – bad blood, that's what it is –"

"Do you think anyone else will ever understand?" Lillian inquired of Blaise, because there was more to Lucius then what he portrayed, he was by no means a good or a nice man, but he wasn't as evil as he wanted everyone else to believe. Would anyone _ever_ see past the clearly devised facades that all Slytherin's utilized?

"It doesn't matter what kind of snake you are, to them, a snake is a snake." Came Blaise's response, and a more honest statement she had never heard.

Lillian didn't realize Hagrid's voice had come to a halting stop until she looked down to see him looking up at her, wide-eyed and pale-faced; and not a moment later, the whole Weasley brood had followed his gaze and found her watching them.

"Don't worry Hagrid, I'm well aware of my bad blood."

The elder Weasley's flinched, Hagrid frowning deeply; Hermione looked as if she might object, Potter watching her studiously and the twins regarding her with a surprising amount of confusion.

Through her peripheral she saw Zabini watching her, she didn't return his gaze, merely pressed her shoulder to his in a wordless goodbye before taking her leave to catch up with Lucius and Draco.

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_**AN:**_

I know there may be one point, _where 'grey eyes met silver',_ could have been confusing; so, in that instance, grey eyes = Lillian, silver eyes = Draco.

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_Special Shout Outs:_

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Going on! Thank you! :)

**Moonzepelmoon:** I'm glad you liked it! And it's being continued, so there will be no 'taking of the wheel with your own hands'. As for which house would I choose? I can see the merits of all the houses, so honestly, I'd be proud to be in any house and I can't really make a choice. Hope you enjoy the update! :)

**StrawberryObsession:** I'm glad you liked it, and that you're so excited! No, she won't, _but_ you'll get to see an interesting reaction from Lucius next chapter in regards to 'getting into trouble'. ;)

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**Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**x**


	3. Hello Platform Nine and Three Quarters

_**AN:**_

Nothing really new to say, but I am thinking an update every Friday (so bank on that from here on out). :D

This chapter isn't as eventful as the last, but I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Enjoy!

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you nine (wow, biggest # yet :D)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

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Lillian was waiting patiently on the steps of Gringotts, had been waiting for the past half hour, for Devon's arrival. It was a quarter to ten that Devon came bursting through the crowds of shopping magic folk, near hyperventilating in her attempt to catch hold of the breath that seemed to have left her.

"I know," She gasped out, hands on her knees, luggage thrown hazardously at her feet. "I'm late, there was – there – _oh_ _bloody hell,_ I can't breathe." She wheezed, her hands going to her ribs as though to ease the pain of the cramps Lillian was sure Devon was feeling.

Going to her friend's side, Lillian withdrew her wand and muttered a simple spell that had a stream of water falling from the tip of her wand, "Drink it," Lillian instructed, "_Slowly_." She didn't want to make her sick.

Once Lillian had deemed it enough, she brought back her wand and tucked it into her clothes.

"Now, what happened?" Lillian inquired as she straightened out Devon's luggage; knowing that they didn't have time to meander and linger, they needed to make one stop before they hurried to the platform in order to catch the train.

"One of the kids got adopted," Devon answered, still just a little out of breath. "The goodbyes took a little longer than normal." Devon briefly got lost in her thoughts of little Edward's goodbye, it had both saddened, and delighted Devon; for the young boy deserved to have the family so many of them lacked.

For a split second, Devon wondered if _she_ would ever get adopted, and following that thought, was the question of whether or not she _wanted_ to get adopted. _Would she still be able to attend Hogwarts? Would she still be able to send letters to Lillian? Could she give up her freedom for the structure of family life?_

All, in Devon's own personal opinion, were relatively good questions, questions she doubted, and kind of hoped, that she would never have to answer – at least no time soon. She was a witch; she had other things to worry about than her lack of parents.

She was brought out of the rather dreary thoughts, thankfully, by the soft press of Lillian's hand to her arm, and Devon had never appreciated the other girl more than she did in that one moment because though there was a silent, probing question in Lillian's grey gaze, Devon knew the other girl would never push for the answers. Lillian would wait for Devon to come to her to talk about her life outside of Hogwarts. Devon theorized it was one of the reasons that they got along so well, Lillian didn't press her, and in return, Devon didn't press Lillian with the hundreds of unasked questions always lingering at the back of her mind.

"_So_," Devon grinned, "Where's my surprise?"

Lillian offered an eye roll as she grabbed one of Devon's suitcases as Devon grabbed the other, "Considering we're running behind, there's no time for a true surprise. So, off to the menangerie we go, and then to the train." Lillian announced, quickly leading Devon through Diagon Alley and to the animal shop Devon had never had a cause to go into.

Waiting by the door, Devon looked at a rather grotesque, burping toad; the ugly thing was _staring_ at her. Devon maintained the creepy staring contest until Lillian exited the shop after entering it just a few minutes prior; she was holding a crate with a black blanket draped over it, the blanket obscuring Devon's view of whichever creature Lillian had decided to purchase.

"Hold him," Lillian instructed, "_Carefully_, mind you, he's a rather anxious creature."

Devon carefully took the cage, wondering just _what_ was in it and why Lillian had finally decided to buy a pet.

Devon had always been curious as to why Lillian hadn't purchased a pet, Devon hadn't gotten one herself simply because she couldn't afford one, or house one at the orphanage; but Lillian had the means to acquire a pet, and the means to care for one during the summer months. Devon had asked the other girl about her lack of an animal once, and the only explanation Lillian had offered was that Draco had an owl, and thus she could receive anything she needed receiving through him.

Lost in her silent ponderings, Devon didn't realize that they were in the train station until she was looking up at the tall, highly intimidating man that was Lillian's Uncle and Draco's father.

Devon would be a fool not to admit she was scared, for the towering man was _menacing_; and Devon had heard more than enough rumors concerning Lucius Malfoy's distaste for all things less than pureblood; despite the fact that he had taken in his half-blooded niece.

"You're cutting it close," He spoke with cool tones, an iciness to his gaze that froze Devon's heart.

"Sorry, Lord Malfoy," Devon forced herself to speak, to address the man that turned an excruciatingly intense gaze upon her; she kind of felt as though she was standing before a butcher, a butcher who was measuring her worth as a cow he was trying to purchase, only to kill her later. "It was my fault, not hers."

"_Hmm_," He murmured, an edge to his gaze Devon couldn't – nor did not ever wish to – interpret. "Be that as it may, you best be leaving. I won't have two witches missing the train on my time. Your luggage is already on board."

"Of course, I'll see you at Christmas." Lillian responded, waiting for Lucius to give a final nod before leading Devon through the platform and onto the train, easily finding the compartment that sat Blaise and, surprisingly enough, Draco as well.

"Well _there_ you two are," Draco sounded as if their absence had put him out in some manner; only Lillian could hear the subtle tone of worry in his voice. "We almost left for Hogwarts without you."

"Well if you had, at least you wouldn't have to worry about splitting your time between us and those two baboons you call friends." Devon announced, lifting on her toes to toss her luggage onto one of the empty spaces above their heads; cage placed in the empty space beside Blaise as Lillian took the empty space beside the window, across from aforementioned wizard and beside her cousin.

Her suitcases suddenly escaped Devon's grasp, only to fit nicely into position beside Blaise's own luggage, "You _do_ have a wand Devon, why not use it?" Draco sneered.

Lillian could only roll her eyes at the banter that transpired, her friend and cousin had the _oddest_ ways of telling each other they missed one another; but then, she was no better, she hadn't ever come outright and admitted to missing someone who wasn't a part of her immediate family.

"Ready for a new year?" Blaise inquired, eyes unmoving from the book before him; and Lillian couldn't help but to smile softly at the title of the book he read – for it was the one she had bought him as a belated birthday gift the year before.

"As ready as one can be with _these_ two children." She replied, much to the indignant cries of aforementioned children.

After the two had settled down, it was Blaise that drew attention to the covered cage. "What is that?"

Lillian couldn't help but to smirk at the sight of both her cousin, and her friend's confusion. "Haven't the foggiest," Devon shrugged.

"What do you mean you haven't a clue, you were the one carrying the bloody thing?" Draco accused.

"Only because Lillian asked me to!" She defended, arms crossed; three heads turned to look at Lillian.

Making sure her expression was schooled into a blank mask, she quirked a brow at her friend and waved to the cage, "Go on." She instructed, barely suppressing her laughter at the hesitance in which Devon went about revealing the mysterious thing.

The black cover gave way to a black cat, severely malnourished with large, orange eyes narrowed suspiciously as he regarded the people surrounding him.

"What the bloody hell is _that_?" Draco demanded, flabbergasted by the sight presented to him.

"That, my dear cousin, is a cat."

"Are you sure?" He countered, "It looks like a mutated rat."

Said _rat_ in question let out a hiss of such disdain, that Draco jumped in surprised, inspiring a round of laughter from Devon and Lillian, provoking a twitch of a smile on Blaise's face.

"It's a cat," Lillian assured.

"You bought a cat?" Devon questioned incredulously, still partly confused, but she couldn't find it within herself to look away from the underfed creature beside her.

"Of course not, Mrs. Norris would kill me if I ever tried to replace her." Lillian objected, "I bought _you_ a cat, Devon."

Everyone turned to look at her, Blaise with curiosity, Devon and Draco with incredulousness. "_Do what_?"

Lillian didn't repeat herself, found it unnecessary.

"_But_…I can't take care of a cat." Devon objected; voice filled with a sadness that had the feline turning its eerie orange eyes upon her.

"Of course you can," Lillian countered, "I found him scavenging for food, I took him to the menangerie to get him healthy; he's an alley cat Devon, which means during the summer months, as long as you meet up with him on occasion; he'll be just fine. Build up his trust, and he'll always return to you."

Devon opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say or _how_ to say it. So eventually, instead of speaking, she just threw herself across the compartment, wrapping her arms tightly around Lillian's slender neck.

Burying her face into the depth of the other's girl silky mass of hair, Devon let Lillian's hair hide the tears in her eyes, ignoring the stinging burn of her throat from trying to repress said tears.

_"Thank you_," She finally whispered, once the soothing brush of Lillian's hand on her back calmed her potent, emotional reaction.

"You're welcome," Lillian murmured back, just as quietly. "_Now_," Lillian gently nudged Devon away, tucking a loose strand of Devon's hair behind her ear, and offering a small smile, "Why don't you get the monster out and get to know him. It's going to be a rather long journey to Hogwarts and he has been in that cage for an awfully long while."

With a grin, Devon did as suggested, reclaiming her seat before hesitantly opening the cage that housed her new pet. Devon spent the next half hour coaxing the feline out of its cage and another half hour coaxing it into her lap until Devon could stroke the feline into a purring mass of unconscious bliss.

Lillian didn't notice the curious way in which Blaise and Draco were watching her, didn't notice the hidden question in Draco's eyes, or the hidden intrigue in Blaise's; for Lillian was lost in the gentle way in which Devon spoke to the feline, as if they were kindred spirits, and once Devon had coaxed the feline into sleep, Lillian was focused on the scenery passing by the window; her focus on a floating blue image that seemed to blend into the sky, blend with the clouds, before plummeting and rising precariously.

Lillian wasn't sure what to make of the pale blue image, but before she could ponder its existence any further, it was gone from her sight altogether.

* * *

_**AN:**_

_Special Shout Outs_:

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: Thank you! I'm so glad you feel that way, and hopefully you continue to feel that way! :)

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Yes! I was pretty proud of that moment, subtle, but present. Thank you! :)

**Monzepelmoon:** No offense taken, just wanted to make sure you new it was going to be continued. haha. I can understand not exactly liking discontinued stories. I'm glad you thought last chapter was interesting; Lillian's an observer. It may or may not play into her treatment later on, who knows? (and if that's kind of vague, good, that's what I was going for.) ;)

**StrawberryObsession:** Gah, thank you! I really wanted to make the interactions of last chapter sort of powerful, I wanted to leave an impression. As for Lucius and Knockturn, no need to fret - I didn't really touch base on that, mainly because I figure she went with him and Draco to Knockturn, and he doesn't really to need to be concerned simply because she's kind of a name to reckoned with in the 'dark magic' world. I may touch base on that, however, in an extra I already have planned for when CoS ends. Will she bring it up? I'll leave you wondering. :*. As for another visit to Azkaban? I haven't exactly planned that one out yet, so just, stay tuned, I guess. :)

**Guest 1:** Thank you! The updates will continue, promise! :D

**Dauntless14:** Thank you! I'm so happy that you love it so much, and I'm really appreciative of that you like the other side to the war. I feel like a lot of Slytherins are sort-of, a misunderstood, victim of circumstance, bunch. :D

**AZT:** Eventually! Maybe...haha, their relationship won't ever be perfect, and it will definitely be rocky, with a lot of misunderstandings; but eventually. :)

**Zeesims:** I am most definitely okay with that! ;) haha. _Malaysia?_ That's awesome! Thanks for the love! :D

**Guest 2**: Here's the update! I know it's not as, eventful as the last, but I hope it doesn't disappoint! (Heads up, expect 'em every Friday). :)

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**Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**x**


	4. Screaming Howlers and Cornish Pixies

_**AN:**_

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To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you nine (_all beautiful 5 of you_)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

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"_Did you hear?"_ Draco sneered from Lillian's right, "_Potter_, the buggering idiot, drove a car to school. Crashed right into that bloody Willow tree."

"How could we not?" Devon rolled her eyes, waving about her spoon for an air of dramatic effect. "It's all anybody can talk about, that, _and_ Professor Snape was bloody _livid_; grumbling about Gryffindors all night because Professor McGonagall didn't expel he and Weasley."

"She _should_ have," Draco cried, "Not _only_ was it a _blatant_ breaking of the rules, they were _spotted_ by _Muggles!_ They shouldn't have been allowed to stay!"

Lillian quirked a brow at her cousin;_ yes_, what Weasley and Potter had done was infinitesimally stupid, but she didn't believe it warranted expulsion, nor did she believe it warranted such an outrageous reaction from the students _or_ her cousin. "As though _you_ haven't broken rules about using magic outside of Hogwarts?"

He opened his mouth to object before realizing he had no defense, he settled on scowling at her in indignation, "So have you." He finally accused.

Lillian offered a one-shouldered shrug, turning back to her muffin; "I never said I hadn't, and I'm not the one faulting another student for something I have done a plethora of times."

Draco didn't give up his scowl, but he gave up his rant, turning his back to her as he struck up a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle. Devon smirked in glee, always happy to see Lillian quiet Draco mid-rant, there was just something about the easy way in which Lillian cut through Draco's whining that managed to satisfy Devon beyond words.

"Will there be any other repercussions?" Devon mused after a moment of silence, gaze flickering between Lillian and Blaise for the answer she sought.

"Probably." Blaise confirmed, giving her no further explanation; but where he stopped speaking, Lillian began.

"Weasley will probably be sufficiently punished by his parents; and considering it was his father's car, Mr. Weasley will, more likely than not, face an inquiry by his department."

Devon's brows drew down in confusion, "Department?"

Lillian nodded, "Mr. Weasley works for the ministry, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts."

"Oh, how do you know this?"

"Draco's father often does business with the Ministry, and I have met Mr. Weasley on a few occasions."

Before Devon could question Lillian any further on her dwellings with the Weasley patriarch, there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd.

Lillian knew she wouldn't be the recipient of any packages, but she _was_ interested in the owl's dropping packages. Her gaze went to one snowy white owl in particular – an owl she had visited just the night before – watching as the thickly wrapped package in its claws dropped in front of the unsuspecting messy-haired boy.

With apt attention, still picking away at her muffin, Lillian watched Harry's brows draw down in confusion; observed him as he cautiously parted the newspaper binding the package together before his confusion gave way to bewilderment. His head jerked up, green eyes scanning the Slytherin table until the green gems stopped at her.

She ignored the silent question, the probing intensity of his befuddled gaze, merely offered him a minute nod of acknowledgement before her attention was pulled from Harry and to Blaise; who was suddenly watching her through probing golden eyes.

She quirked a brow at the mocha-skinned boy, silently challenging him to ask her the question in his eyes, for it would only be when he asked those questions that he would get his answers. His jaw clenched, his mouth firmed, and though he didn't look away from her gaze, he didn't voice his questions either.

Her attention was pulled away from the watchful boy by a sudden screeching that silenced all tables and echoed off of the stone walls of the great hall.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—"

"What the bloody hell is _that_?" Devon whispered, rather fearfully into Lillian's ear.

"A howler," Lillian answered back, amused by the fearfully surprised widening of heterochromatic eyes. "It's very popular among displeased parents."

"Kind of like a tele, then?" Devon murmured, "A message."

"A very angry message," Draco said in response, and Lillian knew he was remembering the time his grandfather had sent him a Howler – he had been just six, and it was one of those times where Lillian had never seen Lucius more furious; furious with his father for having the gall to send a Howler to a young Draco that had done nothing to warrant such a verbal lashing. It had been one of the very last dealings Lucius's father had ever had with his Lucius's family.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED—"

Lillian watched Harry pale, could barely even _see_ Ron from where he tried to escape the raging letter by cowering beneath the Gryffindor dining table.

"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

A ringing silence fell with the end of Mrs. Weasley's final screech. The red envelope, that was the Howler's signature appearance, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Everyone sat, stunned and still reeling from the trepidation _all_ Howlers inspired – even if one _wasn't_ on the receiving end of it.

A few people laughed, and gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.

"It will _never_ cease to amaze me just how much you know," Devon mused once she had regained the ability to speak, "_Honestly_, an inquiry _and_ parental punishment."

Lillian offered Devon a teasing smirk, "It's a gift." She offered with a wink, offering Professor Snape a polite thank you as she accepted her schedule from him as he moved along the length of the Slytherin table; promptly ignoring Draco's sudden groan of displeasure as he realized that they had to suffer through Lockhart's _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ class with the Gryffindor second years.

A few hours later, just after lunch, Devon, Blaise, and Lillian found themselves sitting in Lockhart's near empty classroom; Lillian and Devon talking to Theodore Nott, fellow Slytherin second year, about the disaster that had been Professor Sprout's Herbology class.

"It nearly bit off my finger!" Theodore concluded, mock scowling at Devon when she recalled the actual event and laughed. But even Theodore couldn't keep his smile at bay for long, not when in the face of Devon's laughter and Lillian's amused smirk.

"You still have all of your appendages," Devon offered with a wide smile, "So it wasn't a _total_ disaster."

Lillian lifted an ivory colored hand to tug on a strand of Devon's thick ponytail, "Is that a root in your hair, Dev? A streak of mud on your cheek?"

Devon blushed wildly, scowling in annoyance as she playfully swatted at Lillian's hand, "Well, we can't _all_ be evil cretin whisperers."

"Do explain," She prompted fondly.

"You have this innate ability to deal with otherwise evil creatures." Devon held up a hand, ticking off a list with her fingers, "Mrs. Norris, Nott's devil Owl, those screeching Mandrake's, and Draco."

The last one had Lillian letting out an indelicate snort of amusement, lifting a hand to cover her mouth and smother her chuckle; which garnered her the attention of what few Gryffindors and Slytherins were in the room.

She wasn't known for her displays of emotion, but she ignored those few to focus on her friends, friends that _had_ heard her express amusement before, not at regular intervals, but often enough to not be wholly surprised by the sound.

"Speaking of evil cretins," Devon proceeded forward as if nothing strange had just occurred, "Where _is_ your cousin?"

Lillian shrugged, she honestly wasn't aware of the whereabouts of Draco; she faintly recalled him mentioning something about Marcus Flint and Quidditch – but she hadn't pressed for more details. Marcus Flint was a boy that set off Lillian's instincts in the worst of ways, he had the unnerving capability to deeply disturb Lillian's mind.

There was just _something_ about him that made her weary and more watchful than usual; and Lillian knew that there was more to the feeling than just the way he leered at her whenever they crossed each other's paths. It was an unsettlement of her mind that Draco was aware of, and thankfully, he tended to keep any mentions of Flint minimal at best; and thus leaving her kind of clueless to his current location.

"Probably off somewhere terrorizing Potter and Weasley." She finally offered, not unaware of the attention her pause in thought had garnered her from Blaise. She offered him a small smile of reassurance; but before anything could be said on the matter, the rest of their peers filed into the room, Lockhart not far behind them.

Theodore left to sit with an acquaintance he had made during the first feast of the year, Draco smugly taking the empty seat beside Blaise in front of she and Devon, as Crabbe and Goyle took the empty two-seater to the left of Draco.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville's copy of _Travels with Trolls_, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.

"Me," He said, pointing at his image before winking at it.

"_Is he for real?"_ Devon whispered under her breath.

_"Wizengamot is still out._" Lillian murmured back.

"_Honestly_, _if he wasn't so good-looking, I'd say we should hex him."_

Lillian bumped her elbow to Devon's, _"Have a taste for blonde hair and blue eyes, Dev?" _Nodding her head to her cousin just in front of her.

"_Oh, hush_," Devon rolled her eyes, "_Besides, his eyes aren't blue."_

They quieted when Lockhart announced that there was to be a pop quiz, Devon and Lillian putting away their books – all ruddy _seven_ of them – as they took their papers from Draco and passed the extras back.

Lillian took one look at the questions before rolling her eyes, sharing a look of annoyance with Devon before they turned their attention to the quiz.

_1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_

_2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

On and on the ridiculous questions went, for three pages, right down to:

_54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

Half an hour later, their papers were collected and he was rifling through them in front of the class.

Lillian, for the first time she could ever recall, blatantly ignored the rest of his rambling in favor of talking to Devon. "Tell me, did your attraction to him reward you with perfect marks?"

"Oh, hush, I know you read all of his books." Devon countered with a smirk.

"Because it was required, _not_ because I find the Professor to be an eye-pleasing landmark."

"You have to admit," She murmured as they turned their gazes to the cage Lockhart had produced from beneath his desk, "His books are a marvelous work of fiction."

Smiling despite herself, Lillian watched with a curious eye as Lockhart pulled back the cage's cover to reveal electric blue looking creatures about eight inches tall, their faces pointed and their voices so shrill, it was more like listening to a plethora of budgies arguing.

"_What_ are _those_?" Devon demanded.

"Yes," Lockhart pronounced dramatically – it was then Lillian realized the Professor meant for the creatures to be bone-chilling terrifying. "_Freshly caught Cornish pixies."_

A boy from Gryffindor couldn't quite contain his amusement, drawing upon Lockhart's indignation before he was releasing the pixies from their cage.

It was utter pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Lillian watched as two seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air, she even watched a few escape through a few opened windows before her attention was demanded by a yelping Devon.

Lillian couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle of amusement as she watched a few pixies pull and tug on Devon's ponytail; her quiet laugh was short lived, however, when one of the little devils began tugging on Lillian's own curls a little sharply.

"Hey," She mused gently, reaching around to calmly grab hold of the petite body of the blue creature, pulling it around so that she could see it despite its reluctance to release her curls. "That's not very nice," She chastised gently, gently coercing the creature to release her curls; smiling in amusement at the put out expression that suddenly twisted its sharp features.

_"Watch_," She instructed, ignoring the screeching hollers of her fellow classmates as Lillian showed the Cornish pixie the correct way to go about pulling on her curls. The midnight strands bouncing in a way that enraptured the little thing before it was squirming within her grasp, silently demanding to be let free.

Holding out her left hand, its' little feet rested there, its' wings still, as its' tiny, fragile hand began to gently tug at her curls with unshakable attention.

When Devon finally dislodged the little devil from her hair, it was to find her friend calmly _playing_ with one of its devil brethren.

"_Bloody hell_," She exclaimed, turning an incredulous gaze to Draco and Blaise, who were both watching the scene in surprise – Blaise's well hidden, of course. "You both see this, _right_?"

They nodded their agreement, unable to look away as Lillian suddenly tapped the little creature on its nose and sent it on its way.

"A bloody _whisperer_ I tell you!" Devon exclaimed in faux outrage as the four friends left behind the dying chaos for the Gryffindors to manage; Lillian merely shook her head in amusement, but she didn't dispute it…she had a way with misunderstood creatures, she always had.

* * *

_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs_:

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Thank you! She's gotta have her moments. haha.

**Strawberry Obsession**: There should be more of Devon, so rest easy! haha. And some of her facade may just slip a little as the story progresses, she may just open up a little more. And I am busy - college life is the busy life. haha. I'm so glad you enjoy this story, and my writing! Your support really means a lot to me. :)

**Monzelpoon**: I'm so glad you like her; _and_ I'm glad that you picked up on the fact that she _does_ care. :)

**Guest:** TGIF? haha. Thank you! :)

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: Yes! Thank you! I'm so glad you think so. :)

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**Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


	5. New Seekers and Condemning Slurs

_**AN:**_

**Warning:** There is one cuss word, so if it offends, my apologies!

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To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you eight (_all beautifully wonderful **8 **of you_)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

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The first week of classes passed by relatively harmlessly, nothing interesting coming to pass after that first day with Lockhart and his guileless attempt to scare second years. From what Lillian had gathered, he had pulled similar stunts on the upper years, much to their unending amusement.

Devon was still calling her the _Whisperer_ whenever Lillian entered a room, and Lillian could only be grateful that the other Slytherin's were too scared of her wand hand to give the name a go.

It was the first Saturday, a good hour or so after breakfast, that found Lillian curled up in an armchair aside from the main lounging area in front of the fireplace, the window that peered directly into Black Lake right above her head. A contentedly purring Mrs. Norris was in her lap as she read through _Magical Drafts and Potions_; idly wondering if she could find any upper year schoolbooks in the library, when Draco stormed through the gossiping girls in front of the fire to stand before her with a flourish.

"Yes?" Lillian mused without looking up; she really didn't want to dignify such a dramatic entrance.

"Pull your nose from that bloody book and give me a good look," He instructed, she could practically _taste_ the smug pride rolling off of him.

With a sigh, she marked her place in the well-read book and lifted her head, still stroking Mrs. Norris with her left hand, only for her brows to rise in surprise at the sight before her. For there Draco stood in eye-catching emerald green robes, the Slytherin attire for Quidditch House players.

"What's this?"

He smirked, "You're looking at Slytherin's new seeker."

Lillian was proud of her cousin, she was, but she didn't like that he had to bribe his way onto the team when he could have so easily made the team come time for tryouts. "How much?"

His smirk fell as he regarded her through cool grey eyes – she could see the well-hidden hurt that came with her immediate accusation.

"Nimbus two thousands." He declared through a clenched jaw.

She didn't immediately say anything; just let herself study her cousin, the strain of his jaw, the hardness to his eyes, the tension making his shoulders stiff. She didn't have to tell him that she didn't approve, he could tell it by the way she watched him.

He finally snapped under her continuous gaze, "Are you coming to the bloody practice or not?"

"Of course," She said, watching as the tension seemed to leak out of him, though he still regarded her through cautious eyes. She may have not approved of this transition, that didn't mean she wouldn't support Draco through it. "I'll be meet you on the field – I have to wake Devon."

He nodded; a smirk twisting his lips once more though she could tell it took more energy for him to muster up than it usually did, "Of course." And then he was leaving as dramatically as he had entered, storming through the staring second and first years as his emerald robes billowed around him as if by some invisible force.

It was only as she was helping Devon to get ready – she wasn't ever at her most coherent upon just waking – that Lillian realized she would inadvertently have to deal with Marcus Flint now that Draco would be interacting with the repeating sixth year Quidditch captain on a regular basis.

She ignored the dread that twisted her stomach with that thought, however, and instead focused on her grumbling friend as they made their way towards the pitch.

"Where's Zabini?" Devon inquired, head craning around them as if aforementioned boy would suddenly appear where he had not been before.

"I haven't the foggiest." Lillian answered, she figured the other boy was probably somewhere around the school, doing what he always did, reading.

Lillian knew Blaise wasn't all that fond of people, and she figured after the hustle and bustle of first week, that he would disappear for the entirety of the weekend, into the silence that came with having only ones self for company.

"_Huh_," Devon mused, "So Draco is only doing this because of Harry, right?"

"Yes," Lillian confirmed.

"Why is your cousin an idiot?" Devon demanded, but before Lillian could answer, their attention was demanded by the clash of houses on the pitch below. "_Bloody hell_."

Lillian agreed with Devon's sentiments exactly.

_"Flint! This is our practice time! We got up especially! You can clear off now!"_ Lillian pulled Devon along as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Wood bellowed at Flint, whose back was to Lillian, though she just knew he was sneering in that ugly, cocky way of his.

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood." Flint replied in that charming way of his – charming if charm were a troll, that is.

_"Lillian, _should we be on the field_?"_ Devon whispered quietly, eyes wide in the face of the dispute that had the potential to get volatile, and fast.

Lillian didn't respond, merely proceeded to tug Devon along, the two girls halting just a little to the right of, and behind, the Slytherin team. Their position afforded Lillian an excellent view of all of the Gryffindor team, even gave her a perfect viewing of a confused Hermione and a blustering Ronald Weasley.

"But I _booked_ the field!" Wood was positively spitting with rage, "_I _booked it!"

Lillian gave Hermione a soft nod of acknowledgement when cool grey eyes met round hazel; the Gryffindor girl gave a small, nervous smile – obviously as concerned about the situation as Devon, if not just a tad more enraged by it.

Slytherins tended to be some cocky bastards – Marcus Flint was no exception.

"Ah, but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. _'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'_"

"You've got a new Seeker?" Said Wood, distracted. "Where?"

_Ruddy hell_, Lillian gave an inaudible sigh as her cousin emerged from behind the large Slytherin players. What followed was a series of events that would alter the dynamic of Lillian's relationships for months, if not for years, to come.

It started off with a relatively harmless show-and-tell, but it ended in the worst of ways. Ronald Weasley just _had_ to get involved, and then Hermione just _had_ to open her mouth and do something as foolish as insult her cousin's worth.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in, they got in on pure talent."

_Hell_.

"No one asked your opinion, you _filthy_ little _Mudblood_." He spoke it with such venom, with such _conviction_, that the truth to his words seemed irrefutable.

The uproar was swift and powerful, the two Weasley twins diving for her cousin, one of Gryffindor's chasers shrieking in utter detestation, and Ronald Weasley pulling out his wand and casting a spell that immediately backfired and boomed across the pitch.

In the flurry of pandemonium, no one noticed the sudden, painful stillness that overcame the Slytherin girl at Lillian's side; no one noticed the sudden blankness to a usually, relatively open face. No one, that is, _except_ for Lillian; who felt the shock and power of Draco's words just as much as Devon, or Hermione did.

"_Lillian_," A sudden whisper, a whisper that lacked all emotion but urgency, "_Lillian_, let's go."

A bruising grip around Lillian's wrist as Devon fought with all her might to stay strong, but her whispers had a few heads snapping towards them; Hermione's, the twins, none more surprised than Draco, whose sudden shock mixed with a sheer dose of terror when his eyes fell to _their_ blank-faced friend.

Draco made as if to take a step forward, but that one movement had Devon stumbling backwards, _"Lillian_," She pled, and without sparing her cousin a single glance, Lillian was leading Devon back to the school; allowing Devon to grip her wrist until Lillian was sure blood had been drawn.

Somehow, she didn't know how, but _somehow_, Devon managed to maintain her collectedness until she and Lillian reached their dorm. _Somehow_, she managed to keep the pain at bay; she managed to ignore the curious whispers surrounding them, she managed to ignore _everything_, until they reached the safety of their dormitory.

But as soon as Lillian cast a silencing spell on their room, Devon broke, her calm splintering like a shattered window as she collapsed into the waiting arms of her petite friend; tears breaking the barrier as soft sobs tumbled past her aching throat.

It _hurt_, it hurt because the slur had devalued her worth, stripped her of her pride, of her _meaning_; but it also hurt so much to be called such a malevolent word because it had been uttered from the mouth of a friend, of a _good_ friend—and in such a way that Devon wouldn't ever be able to doubt that Draco Malfoy didn't believe every word out of his own mouth.

Draco hadn't been her first friend, but he had been _one_ of the first, and she had let him in, she had trusted him when an orphan trusted very, _limited_ few. She doubted she would ever be able to forgive him, she knew she wouldn't ever be able to trust him. It was one of the burdens that came with being abandoned, once her trust was broken, there was no getting it back.

But her trust in Lillian was unbending, despite the actions of her cousin; Devon trusted Lillian. And so she cried, she let her friend see her at her weakest, her most vulnerable – she expressed her pain and allowed the other girl to comfort her. Allowed her fellow Slytherin to hold her until she could barely stand she was so exhausted, allowed her to tuck her into bed, and allowed an exhausted, deep sleep to claim her as Lillian held her from behind as the soft warmth of her gifted cat settled into the curve of her stomach.

And it was in that moment that Lillian transcended mere friendship; it was in that moment, that Lillian Black, outcast even in the Slytherin house, became a sister to Devon's heart.

The rest of their weekend was spent locked in their room, actively avoiding Draco as Lillian enlisted Peeves' help to lift Devon's spirits to their former heights – it didn't fully work, but it helped enough to where Devon's eyes weren't constantly weighed down by somber hurt.

Lillian had come to despise the way her friend's one blue eye and one green eye were both so dark as to actually appear homochromatic.

They opted to skip out of breakfast Monday morning, Lillian having learnt a spell from Lady Deverity that past summer about summoning up replenishing sandwiches so that they didn't starve. They had even made it halfway towards Professor Sprout's class when they caught their first sighting of Draco since Saturday afternoon.

There was a long, oppressive silence before Devon was turning on her heel and running back towards Slytherin commons. Lillian didn't immediately go after her; instead she maintained her spot in the corridor as a flare of determination hardened Draco's caught-in-the-headlights expression before he began to push his way through the milling about students and towards her.

When he made to completely ignore Lillian and go after Devon, she stepped in front of him, arms crossed and face twisted into a cold, hard mask that gave away nothing of what she was thinking; it was an expression she hadn't ever used on Draco, it was a mask she reserved solely for everyone _outside_ of her inner circle of friends.

Draco blanched, "I didn't," He began after a tense moment of silence, "I didn't mean _her_…"

Lillian's expression hardened; and the few spectators they had visibly gulped in restrained fear, there was an edge to Lillian's gaze, an edge of anger in the stiffness of her shoulders that had others shuffling a few steps back and glance warily to her clenched wand hand. "You can't do that, Draco. That _isn't_ how it works—you can't condemn one, without condemning them all."

"Lillian…"

"Where does that leave half-bloods in your mind, Draco?" Lillian demanded, watching as what little color her cousin possessed, drained, "My mother, was a _mudblood_." Those few that could hear the words exchanged flinched, wondering just _what_ had happened to invoke such a fury from the Slytherin girl who was affected by nothing.

Without waiting for his response, Lillian turned her back to Draco and made her way _back_ to the commons. She had only taken a couple of steps, however, when she ran into a stone-faced Blaise, an edge to his caramel gold eyes that she couldn't interpret, but she had her wondering if it was concern she was seeing. "Can I borrow your notes?"

A solitary nod was her answer, but as she made to pass him, a warm hand wrapped gently around her left wrist. At her flinch of pain, golden eyes fell to her arm, where her robe covered the damage done to her bones by Devon's relentless grip two days prior.

There was a question in his gaze, and though he didn't speak it, and in fact actually released her, she could tell by the hard clenching of his jaw that he wouldn't let it go, he _would_ question her about it, just not at the moment. At that one moment in time, she had other obligations, and he knew it; so her let her leave without question.

So she and Devon spent the rest of their Monday in their dormitory, playing snaps with Peeves, thinking up names for Devon's cat, and devouring a plethora of sandwiches and would do tea parties proud; and when they climbed into bed that night, it was to the promise that Devon would be prepared to face Draco the next day.

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_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs_:

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Thank you! I'm glad you found it interesting. :)

**bookangel1624:** Thank you! I'm so glad that you love it, and I'm supremely proud that this bettered up your day (_sorry you were having a bad one!_) Maybe? You do bring up valid thoughts - especially considering he's a wolf for a lot of it; so I can say with some confidence there will probably be a few instances that her way with animals connects Sirius with Lillian. :)

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: Haha. We all have to have our talents somewhere! You can be the Magical World's Cesar Millan. ;)

**Monzepelmoon:** Yay! Thank you! I did try and make sure I didn't take anything away from. You're welcome! Haha. I figure Lockhart's all bulls-, and Slytherins should be pretty good at sniffing that kind of stuff out. you know? I hope you love this chapter! I was really kind of pumped to write it because it's kind of big. The letters Dobby stole from him. :)

**Guest 1**: I will do my best! I can't promise any soon, but I'll try and work something in! :D

**Guest 2**: Thank you! I try to keep Blaise in character so I'm glad you like the little observances! :) Marcus will be quasi-important - though he really won't play any huge part until the later books, now I'm just sort of...building the backstory you could say. :)

**StrawberryObsession:** Thank you! Double yes! I really try and leave a mark at each end of the chapter, I don't like just letting it taper off, you know; so I'm really glad that you noticed and liked them. :) Of course! I'll understand completely, I'm just happy you're still reading! Heck, you could leave I smiley face and I'd be superbly content with that. But I do appreciate the time it takes for you to leave out a review, telling me what your thoughts and what you liked. :D

**Dauntless14:** Would it be too much of a spoiler if I said one of those was my end game? 0.o ... ;*

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**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday (**_and enjoy your spring break if you're on it!_**),**

**x**


	6. Written on the Wall and Repeat Offenders

_**AN:**_

Sorry it took so long, but here's your Friday update! :D

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To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you six (_all beautifully wonderful **6**of you_)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

* * *

Weeks had come and gone since that fateful Saturday, and in those passing weeks, Devon hadn't spoken a single word to Draco Malfoy. Lillian herself, had kept her interactions with her cousin very cordial, their countenances not nearly as welcoming as usual but Devon knew it was only a matter of time before the two cousins were talking once again on a more familiar level; and despite Devon's own misgivings, she couldn't hold their eventually continued relationship against her friend – for Draco and Lillian were family and Lillian, Devon knew, didn't turn her back on family.

But with Devon's lack of interaction with Draco, Lillian and she had taken to hiding away in the library to avoid aforementioned boy—_well_, Devon had been hiding, Lillian was merely accompanying Devon in her ever-running pursuit to avoid Draco Malfoy wherever possible.

Though with Devon's avoidance came a very heavy bout of guilt. It wasn't just Draco she was leaving behind, just by association, she was leaving behind Blaise too, and that wasn't fair to Lillian; though when Devon had tried to apologize for the inadvertent way in which Devon had separated the two…_friends_, Lillian would hear nothing of it.

_"Blaise was Draco's friend first, Dev." _Lillian had pointed out when Devon had first voiced her apologies.

_"But he's your friend _now_."_

_"And he still is, I see him everyday." _Which was true, though they didn't sit together during meals, they still had classes together.

_"But your interactions have dwindled considerably." _Devon had countered, exasperated as to why Lillian was challenging her so much on this; what Devon didn't know, however, was that Lillian had been sitting with Blaise each night after Devon had gone to sleep, the two just reading in a companionable silence to make up for their lack of time spent companionably silent during the day.

_"If the people I call friends disappear simply because of distance, then they aren't worth calling friends." _ Lillian had stated with a startling confidence that had quieted Devon's concerns, if only for the moment it took for her to build a new argument.

But when Devon had finally _found_ a new argument, Lillian had simply leveled her with an unwavering, calm grey stare that quieted any and all further objections and had Devon retreating into a subdued silence, unwilling to challenge the wordless command in that slate grey stare of Lillian's. But the knowledge of Lillian's lack of blame didn't erase the guilt Devon still felt.

"_Devon_," The tawny-haired girl was pulled from her silent musings by her friend's quietly exasperated tone.

Blinking her gaze, Devon took note of her surroundings, wondering for just how long she had been dazed when she realized the library's lamps were lit in place of the darkening night sky.

"_Finally_," Theo declared from Lillian's left, "We've only been calling your name for the past five minutes."

Devon rolled her eyes but stood and gathered her things, "My apologies, I was lost in the memories of your begotten finger."

Theo scowled, crossing his arms as he regarded Devon through narrowed eyes, he tried to look angry, but the flush to his ears gave away his slight embarrassment.

"Don't mind her, Theo," Lillian smirked, "She's just cranky because she still has knots in her hair from Lockhart's Cornish Pixies."

Theo smiled as Devon let out an indignant huff, "Why don't you go ahead to the Great Hall? The Halloween Feast will soon start and you don't want to miss the pudding." Devon exclaimed past her own embarrassment.

"What about you two?" Theo questioned, his eyes flickering between the two girls with slight concern. He wasn't sure just what had transpired a few weeks ago, between his two friends and Draco, but he knew it had to have been something serious the moment Lillian stopped sitting near her cousin during meals to instead sit with Devon a few places away, towards the permanently empty section of the Slytherin House table.

The two cousins may not have been overtly affectionate, but they were almost always together, and there was an infinite knowledge within Slytherin that if you messed with one, you messed with both; Lillian Black and Draco Malfoy, had the strongest of alliances and it kept even the upper years from messing with the two Slytherins that would surely grow to be the most powerful in the House yet.

Their consequent separation did not bode well to anyone in the Slytherin house, and the longer it went on, the more uncomfortable everyone else grew.

"We'll be there shortly," Lillian assured calmly, "We just have a few books to put away." Lillian knew Theo wanted to object, but under her grey gaze he gave a parting nod accompanied by a quick smile before he was leaving Lillian and Devon to themselves.

"Devon?" Lillian prompted once they were alone.

"I'm fine, Lily," Devon promised; kind of hating that it had come to the point where she had to be asked so frequently about the state of her being.

"That's wonderful," Lillian mused wryly, "But not what I was going to ask."

Devon's head jerked up in surprise, "Then what _were_ you going to ask?"

"If you needed to see Madam Pince about these books," Lillian motioned to the stack of unopened library books Devon hadn't even touched.

Devon blushed, opened her mouth to apologize when Lillian's grey gaze narrowed on her, stopping the apology before it could even form. "No," She murmured, "What about you?"

"Already did."

"Did you find that potions book you were looking for?" Devon inquired as they exited the library and made their way towards the Great Hall for what was left of the Halloween Feast.

"I found an older book, read about a really interesting polyjuice potion but found nothing forthcoming otherwise. I figured I would just talk to Professor Snape, see if he had any older books I could borrow." Lillian mused as they walked leisurely through the empty corridors.

"You don't even really like his class." Devon pointed out somewhat incredulously, not understanding her friends desire for further reading material.

"I don't _dislike_ his class." Lillian countered.

Devon snorted, "That's more than anyone else can say."

Lillian opened her mouth to reply when she was overcome by the eerie feeling of being observed, of being watched, it was a feeling that had her feet pausing so she could try and pinpoint the location of her observer. Despite Devon's footfalls, however, Lillian couldn't hear anything to validate the discomforting feeling – but it was suddenly what she _didn't_ hear, that put her on edge.

"Lillian?" Devon implored once she realized the other girl wasn't beside her. Head turning, her brows drew down at the sight of Lillian a few paces behind her, "_Lillian?"_

Instead of answering Lillian walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall, only to continue past the entranceway when her discomfort only strengthened in intensity. "Lillian, what if we miss the feast?" Devon exclaimed as she hurried to catch up with the other girl.

"Then we miss it, we have five more years." Lillian murmured distractedly, she was too focused on what she _wasn't_ sensing to worry about dinner.

Devon opened her mouth to object when all words, all _thoughts_, left her; because there, just down the corridor, were three all-too-recognizable Gryffindorsgaping before dripping, foot-high words that had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.

"_Trust me, we don't want to be found here._" Devon was just barely aware of the Weasley boy speaking, she was too focused on the writing she could now see was written in blood, to care about what he was talking about.

"_Lillian_," She whispered, unaware that her whisper had garnered the two girls the attention of the Gryffindor Trio. "How did you know?"

Lillian didn't have the time to answer, wasn't even aware of the looks suddenly exchanged by the three Gryffindors, because suddenly, a rumble, as though of distant thunder, sounded—announcing the end of the feast as the patter of hundreds of feet came from each side of the corridor in which the five students stood.

Lillian was vaguely aware of the emerging students, her feet drawn forward to the bloody scene by the still, skeletal figure that hung from a torch racket by its' tail.

_Mrs. Norris_.

Sorrow and anger warred within Lillian at the discovery, her mind whirling with just _what_ those words meant, when a voice suddenly pierced the disheartening quiet of disturbed students. A voice Lillian would have given the world to change, "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, _Mudbloods_!"

It was Draco, and without turning Lillian could almost visualize the smirk that would be adorning his features with his sneered taunt; he obviously hadn't learned his lesson from the last time he had uttered the horrid word.

"What's going on here? _What's_ going on?" Attracted no doubt by Draco's shout, Filch came upon the scene; and then he saw Mrs. Norris. "My cat! _My cat_! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieked from somewhere on Lillian's left.

Aforementioned girl turned, as if to console the caretaker, but any attempts at consolation were forgotten when his eyes fell on Harry, who had been too shocked to back away from the scene before the other students had arrived.

"_You! You! _You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! _I'll_ –"

Before his threats could continue, Dumbledore's voice ripped through the night, "_Argus!"_

Lillian had planned to turn and face the Headmaster when there a hand clasped around her right left forearm, giving her no time to react as she was pulled into the crowd that had formed and out of the spotlight of attention.

She whirled around to give whoever was pulling at her a firm telling off to, when golden-caramel caught flickering torchlight, revealing her captor to be none other than Blaise Zabini.

A subtle shake of his head told her to stay quiet as he pulled her into the fray of the crowd, keeping a firm hand around her forearm as they listened to the professors.

Lillian was, however, too slight of stature to see past the hordes of people before her, and thus Blaise had to lean down and whisper the current happenings into her ear.

"_Headmaster_ _Dumbledore removed Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket."_

"Come with me, Argus," Dumbledore instructed the caretaker, "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free —"

"Thank you, Gilderoy." Lillian heard Dumbledore accept the invitation fluidly, and then the crowd around her surged and she was suddenly gripping Blaise's left forearm with her free hand.

She would curse herself for the reacting so thoughtlessly later, but currently, all she could focus on was the plethora of bodies suddenly pressing tight against her own.

A soft whisper of words at her ear distracted her though, from the pulsing bodies, "_They're all leaving."_ He said nothing about the tight grip of her right hand around his left forearm; his body an immoveable wall at her back so that she was only jostled from the front and sides.

"Where's Devon?"

"Left when Draco made his grand entrance."

Lillian felt a sigh escape her mouth, her shoulders drooping for the two seconds it took for her to recollect her emotions, her disappointment, once more. "Let's go."

Soon after her thickly veiled question framed as a command, Blaise was leading them through the throngs of still lingering students; getting them out of the blood-stained corridor in record time.

They released their grasps on each other once they had cleared the crowd and were alone on their journey through the corridors and to their common room.

"Is that why Maccabee has been avoiding Malfoy?" Blaise inquired after a moment, and Lillian couldn't help but be silently impressed by his connection of Draco's freely used blood slur with the rift between their small group; no one would ever be able to claim Blaise to be ignorant.

"Yes." Lillian answered.

Blaise let it go, saying nothing else until they were descending the stairs to reach their dungeon, "The corridor?"

"I haven't the foggiest, Blaise," Lillian exclaimed, wondering if he could hear the exhaustion she tried to hide. "But I doubt Potter was the one to do it."

Blaise neither objected nor agreed with her sentiments, merely kept his quiet and walked her to the door leading up to the girl's dormitories; "Good night, Blaise."

A single nod was Lillian's return address before he was turning his back and heading for the boy's quarters, "_Zabini_," His head turned, regarding her with that sharp gaze of his. "_Thank you_."

A small quirk of his mouth, a flash of something in his gaze before his head was turned the other way and Lillian herself, was continuing on her way; knowing that this time, Devon wouldn't be sad, she would be flat out infuriated with Draco and Devon's fury, coupled with the repeated offense, eviscerated any and all hopes of redemption for their relationship.

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_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs: _

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Thank you! :D

**Dauntless14:** I'm so glad you love them together already! I might actually incorporate Theo into the arch a little more! As for you other ideas - maybe, I wouldn't completely discount them however. :) I'm glad you like the way blood status is being played in this story. And Lillian's personal views on the matter definitely won't hinder her relationship with the Gryffindors _(and Harry) _when the time comes. Thank you! I'm so glad you love my story! And I hope you continue to love it. :D

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: I am undoubtedly impressed! :D

**Jafcbutterfly:** tsk tsk Draco, my sentiments exactly. :)

**StrawberryObsession:** I'm glad you like the confrontation, I'm sorry about the conflicting emotions! But here's some more Blaise x Lillian interaction for you! Lillian and Draco _will_ eventually heal their rift - they have to; but it might take awhile, I do have it somewhat planned so I can safely assure you it will happen in this book. I'm glad you liked the Lillian x Peeves tag-team, and I _was_ referencing Sorcerer of Stone. :) Thank you for your review, and your well-wishes, I had plenty of R and R and I hope you enjoy this update! :D

**Moon-chan**: Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Lillian will probably be easier to forgive than Devon - I hope you got some of your answers to those questions in this chapter. I'm not exactly sure when (_or if_) Hermione and Lillian will have some solo time (_if not in the main story then they will in the extras_) but Lillian will definitely be useful to Hermione soon (_I dropped a hint earlier as to what she'll be involved in_). Devon didn't really deal with Draco in this chapter but they'll have it out (_or work it out_) eventually.

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


	7. Non-Enemies and The Chamber of Secrets

_**AN:**_

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, thank you! Getting those emails seriously make me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you six (_all beautifully wonderful **5 **of you_)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

* * *

For a few days after the incident, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris; and though Lillian had often pondered the thought of attempting to console the rather distraught Filch, she never did simply because the man was in an inconsolable rage – each time she passed that still stained blood red wall, he was sitting there, a diligent guard. A guard to what, though, Lillian didn't know.

Other than the talk and subsequent whispers of what Potter's involvement was in relation to the whole scandal, school had continued on as per usual.

Devon was adamantly ignoring Draco, Lillian herself lacking the patience to deal with aforementioned cousin. She severely disapproved of his casual slinging of the heart-hurting slander that affected her nearly as much as it did her muggleborn friend, and it was in those moments that Lillian recalled his loose tongue, that she found herself mildly thankful that Draco wouldn't be accompanying her home that year for the Christmas holidays. She anticipated not having made up with him by the time those months rolled around.

The downside for Devon, however, was that the library wasn't so much of a reprieve any longer. Since the discovery of Mrs. Norris and the premier debut of the _Chamber of Secrets_, near every student in Hogwarts had been scouring the shelves, looking for any book that may hold the key to unlocking the mystery.

Madam Pince had been in a fluster for days, the demand for answers was so high that _Hogwarts, A History_ was even on backorder.

One evening after the incident, Lillian had been thoroughly amused when Hermione had quietly approached she, Devon, and Theo in the library as they conversed quietly about one of Lockhart's assignments. Theo had regarded the frazzled girl with utter bewilderment, silently wondering why the heck the Gryffindor girl was at their table, Devon had just shaken her head, telling the boy it wasn't unordinary as Hermione and Lillian were acquaintances of sorts.

_"I was wondering if you had your _Hogwarts, A History_ copy?" Hermione questioned, studiously ignoring the Slytherin boy she had had no prior interactions with and thus was extremely uncomfortable around._

_Lillian shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I take it you're trying to find the answers to this mysterious, elusive Chamber of Secrets?"_

_"Harry and Ronald obviously don't care enough to find the answers themselves," She had huffed irritatingly before offering a polite smile to Devon, a thankful one to Lillian, and then turned on her heel and left._

Had Hermione decided to linger a little longer, Lillian probably would have told the other girl all she knew about the Chamber – she may have not had her book, she _did _remember everything said about the Chamber; during her lessons over the summer, hers and Draco's tutor had given them a plethora of exams on the Houses origins and their consequent legends, for all legends were based on some element of truth.

Lillian was pulled out of any further musings on the happenings since Mrs. Norris' discovery, however, by the opening of the potions classroom and the exiting of students that appeared to have a torch at their bums considering most were practically sprinting out of the classroom. Their haste to leave potions behind wasn't really surprising though, considering Professor Snape seemed to have been in a particularly vindictive mood the past few days.

As the last of students exited the classroom, Lillian pushed off of her relaxed position along the wall and entered the room, taking note of Harry cleaning what looked to be scrape tubeworms off of the desks before heading towards Professor Snape's office where she knocked politely along the door.

Beady black eyes pierced her over a crooked, large nose. "Miss Black, to _what_ do I owe _this_ pleasure?"

"Good afternoon, Professor," She replied amicably, undeterred by his cool tones. "I was wondering if you had any upper level potion books I could borrow for the weekend?"

His eyes widened for the brief moment it took for him to regain his demeanor and level a scowl at her, "My apologies, but is my coursework not rigorous enough for you, Miss Black?" He asked icily.

"No sir, your work is plenty rigorous enough, highly intriguing, too. _However_, I've already read through the book and studied most of the potions." She explained, knowing that her advanced preparation surprised him, though for what reasons, she wasn't sure. "I merely wished to read a little further on the more intricate potions found in higher level books."

He watched her with a scientifically probing gleam in his dark eyes as if, if he stared hard enough into her eyes, he would gain access to the innerworkings of her brain.

He must have eventually found what he had been searching for, or given up his search entirely, for he pulled a piece of parchment from one of his desk drawers, scribbling something along the blank lines before he signed the bottom and held out the parchment for her to take.

She felt her brows draw down in slight confusion as she read the title of the book listed on the parchment, "_Moste Potente Potions."_

"It's an advanced potions book in the restricted section of the library, you need a Professor's authorization to obtain it. Return it by Tuesday."

Lillian offered a slight smile, "Thank you, Professor Snape." She would have parted with an '_I'll see you next week'_ had he not been her Head of House or had it not been one hundred percent likely that she would see him throughout the halls before her next class with him.

Lillian was just leaving the office, tucking the parchment into her bag, as Harry was grabbing his things leaving the same way as herself.

Without conscious choice, they found themselves walking beside each other, and though no conversation was had, it wasn't an unnecessarily uncomfortable walk – at least it wasn't uncomfortable until some Hufflepuff came towards them from the opposite direction.

Lillian had caught Harry opening his mouth from her peripheral, obviously familiar with the other boy, but when the boy had lifted his gaze from the ground in front of him, he had spotted them and immediately turned the other way, speeding away from the direction he had come.

After a couple more silent, suddenly tense moments of walking, Harry asked, "Was that because of me, or you?"

Lillian didn't have to take long to think of her response, "I would gather it was a combination of the two," She contemplated, "Probably you more than I."

"_What_?" Harry's incredulous question as his head whipped around to stare at her, "How do you reckon that? _You_ are the one in _Slytherin_."

Lillian felt her countenance cool, her eyes changing from murky grey into cool silver as she slanted him with an indifferent gaze, "_I_ wasn't the one found at the scene of the crime." He had lost all attempts at congenial interaction on her part the moment he had pronounced her House name with unveiled disgust.

The Gryffindor boy gaped for a moment, obviously grasping for some irrefutable defense before settling with, "_You were there!_" His cheeks flushed red, his glasses slanting across his nose in his exuberant fury.

"Are you accusing me of something, Potter?" Lillian challenged lowly, a note of warning in her voice that briefly shut the younger boy up; that was, before he remembered just _who_ he was talking to, the cousin of _Draco Malfoy_, that alone had to mean she was capable of evil wrongdoings.

"You're a _Malfoy_." Another accusation that had her patience thinning, she had nothing against Harry Potter, he was inadvertently _family_, but she would never tolerate ignorance, and in that moment, Harry was displaying prominent amounts of ignorance unparalleled by any others Lillian had ever before encountered.

"Your hatred for my cousin hasn't yet made you an enemy of mine," Lillian announced in an exquisitely controlled manner, "It would be smart of you to refrain from doing that yourself." A blatant warning to the suddenly gaping boy, "Because you're right Potter, I _am_ in Slytherin, and I _do_ have a bad side; and you would do best to stay off of it."

_Yes_, Harry was quasi-family, even if he didn't know it; but that veiled connection between them could only get him so far before she disregarded his family's significance to her own and treated him in a manner reserved for all those who brought into question her character; especially when those questioning her knew _nothing_ about her.

Without waiting for the boy to regain his bearings from the soft threat, Lillian left him behind and proceeded to study hour to meet up with Devon.

She had just settled into the bench across from Devon when there was a soft thud beside her.

Curious, Lillian lifted her head, surprised to see Blaise claiming the empty space to her right.

"Zabini?" Devon inquired, utter confusion coloring her tones; they hadn't sat next to Blaise in study hour since Draco's first transgression.

"Maccabee," Blaise responded, offering no explanations to the sudden change in seating arrangements; and when it looked as though Devon would question him further, Lillian caught her eye and subtly shook her head in silent retribution.

Blaise would tell only if he wanted Devon to know and by his rather short response, he didn't feel like explaining himself.

"_So_," Devon prompted once Blaise had settled into his newly claimed place and they each began working on their assignments, "What did Professor say?"

"He gave me permission to retrieve a book from the restricted section," Lillian answered quietly; grey eyes skimming her assignments, looking for any she hadn't already completed.

"Merlin, do you realize how difficult that is? I overheard some sixth years complaining about how they've been trying to get the same book from the restricted sections for years."

Lillian offered a shrug; all she had done was ask for it.

A few minutes later, after Lillian had realized she had completed all of her assignments due for the next three weeks and had been given no other assignments to thus complete; she settled for reading through her Transfiguration book.

"_Hey_," Devon whispered just after Lillian had finished a basic, informative chapter on Animagus, "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Lillian looked up from her book, vaguely noting that Blaise was writing in loose, unhurried motions a twelve-inch Herbology assignment due next week. "Quite a few things, why?"

"It's all anybody can bloody talk about," Devon responded, "Tell me what you know?" Devon _hated_ being out of the know, _especially_ when it was all anybody could talk about.

"A rift between Slytherin House and the other three Houses emerged once Salazar Slytherin decided he wanted to be more _selective_ about the students admitted into Hogwarts." Lillian began to explain.

"Let me guess," Devon interrupted dryly, "Purebloods?"

Lillian nodded in affirmation briefly considering Salazar's selectiveness and it's relation to Devon. It was _because_ of Salazar's mindset that Devon's placement into Slytherin made her as much of an anomaly as it did Lillian a threat.

A muggleborn in Slytherin where blood mattered most, it was rare, and in the odd chances of it happening, those few muggleborn Slytherins had found a way to be transferred out of their House and into another. No matter their status, no matter their beliefs, other Slytherins had to commend Devon for her strength for choosing to remain in the Slytherin House.

"He believed," Lillian proceeded to explain once she had finished her thoughts, "That magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy."

"After a while," Blaise continued without lifting his gaze from his parchment, his hand still moving with slow fluidity across his parchment, "Tensions between the houses escalated and Salazar Slytherin left the school."

"So how does all of this fit into the Chamber?" Devon implored, eyes shifting between the two impromptu storytellers.

"Story goes," Lillian picked up where Blaise left off, "That Salazar built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing of. Salazar, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at Hogwarts. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were deemed unworthy to study magic."

Devon looked particularly uneasy at the sound of '_purging all who were deemed unworthy'_; her left hand curling tight around her quill, her eyes flickering worriedly around the room before she seemed to find the strength within to continue her search for answers.

Devon wasn't the type to scare easily, hadn't ever been scared in the face of nighttime stories at the orphanage, but she found it was a little different in the world of magic, where tensions between blood was very, _very_ real. She found it easy to be a little fearful when there had already been one blood soaked war on the purity of one's lineage, especially when she knew that she was of the _impure_ sort.

"'_Horror within_'?"

"Some sort of monster residing in the Chamber, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control." Blaise supplied.

"Is that what happened to Mrs. Norris?"

"No one knows what happened to Mrs. Norris," Lillian assured softly, trying to assuage her friend's fears. "But they'll figure it out, Dev."

Devon nodded, accepting Lillian's assurances before returning to her assignment – it wasn't but a minute later that her head lifted once more. "_Wait_, so who do _you_ think it is? The Heir, I mean?"

Lillian could only shrug, "I'm not sure, but I can tell you who everyone else thinks it is."

"Potter, right?" Devon questioned, "I've heard whisperings around the commons," She explained when Lillian quirked a brow at her. "I figure if Slytherins are talking about it, then so is the rest of the school."

"It wasn't Potter," Blaise countered, Lillian nodding along in agreement as Devon looked to them both in confusion.

"How can you be certain?"

"He's too Gryffindor for it," Lillian said, by way of explanation, "That and he isn't the type to do whatever was done to Mrs. Norris."

"Aside from those facts," Blaise began, "He couldn't find the Chamber without help from Granger." Undoubtedly true, the bushy-haired brunette was the brains behind all of Potter and Weasley's endeavors.

"And Granger is a muggleborn," Devon mused thoughtfully, "And thus can't be the Heir."

As they each returned to their respective assignments – or in certain cases, side readings – Lillian couldn't help but to recall the slight of hand that had slipped a second book into little Ginevra Weasley's cauldron; _what had Lucius been up to?_

* * *

_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs:_

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx**: Ah! Thank you! :D

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: He is! :'( But Mrs. Norris will return! _(eventually...)_ :D

**StrawberryObsession:** It is sad. I'm glad you found their interaction, and Devon's mindset enjoyable! :) Never fear, Lillian's the type to persevere, besides, it takes a little more than three students not so close to her to hurt her feelings. :) That will be interesting! _But_, I think that will be an extra at the end of this installment, so you _might_ have to wait a little longer for that one.

**Dauntless14:** Thank you! And no worries, I never tire of hearing it! haha. ;) I'm happy that you enjoy their relationship and that you like Blaise and Lillian's relationship dynamic! I have plans for them in the future, and it's so hard to try and do their relationship justice _now_simply because I'm trying to keep Blaise as mysterious as possible haha. You _will_ see Devon stand up for herself relatively soon! And her lack of doing so now _is_ in part, because of how young she (and the others) are currently, but don't worry, she'll come into her own as she gets older and (_slight spoiler alert, maybe?_) she'll have absolutely no problems standing up for herself (_and others_). I can't wait until I get to incorporate romance either! ;) I can tell you now, it's going to be fun to write all of those happenings out, so I hopefully, you'll enjoy it. :D

**Moon-chan**: Success! :) There wasn't any Draco in this one, but no worries, he _will_ get his comeuppance! Promise. :D Whichever questions weren't answered (_and if giving you the answers gives away spoilers, and you're okay with that_) just remind me what they were and I'll be happy to answer them. :)

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


	8. Rogue Bludgers and Wayward House Elves

_**AN:**_

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, new and old, **thank you**! Getting those emails seriously makes me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you twelve (_all beautifully wonderful **12 **of you_)! Ya'll make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

* * *

Lillian was just leaving the Great Hall, a plate of breakfast in hand for Devon – who had asked not to be woken until _at most_ an hour before the Quidditch match – when she ran into Hermione; who, instead of merely nodding hello and continuing on her own way, decided to accompany Lillian on her walk back to Slytherin common room.

"Shouldn't you be off wishing Harry good luck?" Lillian mused once they had walked half the distance in complete silence.

"I've already done that," Hermione responded nervously, wringing her hands together before she noticed Lillian looking, then tucked them nervously within her robes.

"I reckon you've got four minutes to say whatever it is you need to say, Hermione. Once I'm back at Slytherin, your window of opportunity will have closed."

"Right," She nodded, drawing in a deep breath before she schooled Lillian with her polite, teacher's pet expression. "I would like to borrow _Moste Potente Potions_ from you."

Lillian felt her brows raise an infinitesimal increment, "And what do you need with a book from the restricted section?"

The Gryffindor huffed haughtily, "I could ask of you the same thing."

"You could, but I've already gotten permission to hold the book. I don't need to explain myself to you." Lillian replied coolly, haughtiness would get Hermione nowhere with her.

Hermione pursed her mouth, three red splotches coloring her cheeks at Lillian's chastisement.

Hermione sometimes forgot, that though Lillian wasn't like the other Slytherins – for she was rather polite and nice – she was _still_ Slytherin, and that made her someone to be weary of, at least someone to be reckoned with.

Hermione had learned from their first year together, that if one gave Lillian respect, she would return the favor but she didn't trust blindly nor did she trust many, and though she wasn't outwardly cruel like her cousin or those of other Houses and older years, she was _still_ dangerous.

"I would like to look at a potion, one Professor Snape mentioned in passing a few weeks ago that intrigued me. I obtained permission to check out the book, but Madam Pince informed me that you had already retrieved the book."

They were descending the stairs into the cooler, darker levels of the castle when Lillian decided to question, "Which potion?"

Hermione held her tongue, really not wanting to give it away in case Lillian suspected Hermione of something dastardly; but when they came upon the door leading to Slytherin common rooms and Lillian had said nothing since her recently posed question, Hermione knew she had no choice, not if she wanted the book. "The Polyjuice potion."

Lillian vividly recalled the potion, had studied it just the night before, fascinated by it since the week before, when she had read what it was capable of being used for in a book dedicated to the most notable advances of magical society.

"Hold this," Lillian instructed to Hermione, handing Devon's plate to the other girl as she rifled through her bag to withdraw a piece of parchment and her quill.

"Are you not going to the quidditch match?" Hermione inquired as she took note of Lillian's bag.

"I am, I just went for a read before breakfast." Lillian replied as she decorated the paper with a startling elegant scrawl.

Hermione found herself mildly envious of the pretty loops and continuous curves before the plate in her hands was being replaced by the scrawled upon parchment.

"What's this?" Hermione queried, brows drawn down in confusion as she took note of the list of items presented to her.

_Powdered horn of a bicorn._

_Shredded skin of a boomslang._

"That is the list of ingredients you will need for the Polyjuice potion." Lillian replied with a shrug, "I don't want to know what it is you're using the potion for," Lillian warned, "But I figure that will give you a head start in gathering the recipe."

"Why can't I just have the book?"

Lillian quirked a brow at the other girl, "Because I'm not done with it. I'll have it returned by Tuesday, if you still have your letter of permission, you can check it out then."

"But—" Hermione began to object, only for Lillian to cut her of calmly and fluidly.

"I gave my word to Professor Snape that I would return it by Tuesday, not hand it off to another student, I keep my word Granger." Lillian's silver eyes narrowed on the girl, making her shift uncomfortably. Hermione was intelligent enough to know that she had just crossed some kind of hidden line, by demanding more from Lillian when she had given Hermione more than others probably would have.

"How do I know that you haven't forgotten something?" Hermione countered, for she felt that such a complicated potion wasn't capable of being memorized, not by a second year – not unless _Hermione_ was the one listing the instructions.

"You aren't the smartest one here, Hermione," Lillian warned, "And if that isn't enough to settle your mind, it'll take you longer than three days to acquire all of the materials on that list, once you have the book to yourself, feel free to compare my list to the one it gives you."

Hermione's sudden attitude made Lillian glad she hadn't immediately offered the book to the Gryffindor second year. Lillian _was_ finished with the book, had finished it the night before; but Hermione tended to come to Lillian only when she needed something, and so Lillian wasn't predisposed to giving the girl whatever she wanted as soon as she wanted it.

Before Hermione could demand anything else, or make an attempt to insult her intelligence further, Lillian whispered the password to the common room and left behind the Gryffindor Girl who could be up to nothing good; and Lillian knew that that nothing good more than likely had everything to do with Potter and Weasley. Lillian also knew that if it involved Potter, that meant whatever Hermione was up to, it more likely than notinvolved the Chamber of Secrets.

"_There you are!_" Devon exclaimed, pulling Lillian from her thoughts as her friend snatched the plate of food from her hand and began scarfing down the still steaming food.

"Why are you up?" Lillian mused as she relaxed into the soft cushions of the couch, smiling as Al clamored into her lap; the newly named alley cat had taken to being Lillian's substitute Mrs. Norris, filling the void the ill cat had left behind nights ago.

"If you make him love you more than he loves me, I will not be happy." Devon warned as Lillian began to rub him beneath his chin eliciting some loud, contented purring.

"Peeves decided to fall through the ceiling and plunge straight through my body." Devon said in response to Lillian's initial question. "Said it was un-Witchy not to already be up on Quidditch Day."

"And you just, got up?" Lillian prompted, not thinking it possible for such a thing to happen.

"_Of course not_," Devon cried, "I told the bloody ghost to go bugger off," Devon's sudden scowl towards the food on her plate had Lillian fighting back a laugh, "Bloody ghost threatened to run through me again, and again, and _again_ if I didn't get up that instant." Devon shivered just recalling the cold emptiness that had been Peeves' ghostly body.

It wasn't until Devon had devoured her food, fed Al, and finished getting ready before the two girls left the dungeons and headed towards the pitch; where Lillian was sure the stadiums were already flooded with students.

"What took you so long to get back to the common room, anyways?" Devon asked when they reached the steps leading to the Slytherin section.

"Ran into Hermione." Lillian responded as they peaked the stairs; her silver eyes scanning the crowded seats in search of available seating.

"Over there," Devon pointed to where Theo and Blaise sat, easily visible space between the two, a space just big enough for both Lillian and Devon to fit. "What did she want?" Devon questioned as they worked through the mill of students; she had come to realize the past month that Hermione only tended to go to Lillian when the Gryffindor smarty was in need of something she couldn't otherwise obtain.

"The book I borrowed from the restricted section."

"But why?" Devon could understand why Lillian would want it, she was always reading up on really advanced subjects because they tended to be the only thing that could truly fascinate her.

_Yes_, Hermione was always the one to answer questions in class, but Devon figured her to be the type that was solely interested in being ahead of her year, and a potions book from the restricted area was most definitely beyond the second year learning curve.

"I have a few suspicions," Lillian admitted, smiling to Theo in greeting as she took the empty seat with Blaise to her left, leaving Devon to take the seat on Lillian's right, between she and Theo. "But nothing concrete," She added before Devon could question her further.

Devon, sensing the end to that particular conversation, turned her attention to the pitch, "So what are the odds?"

"We've the fastest brooms." Theo answered near immediately.

"They have the better flyers." Devon countered, much to the displeasure of Theo and a few of the other Slytherins surrounding them, Devon paid them no heed.

After a few more bets and good-natured ribbings were exchanged, Madam Hooch was seen preceding the teams onto the pitch. Lillian leant over as all of the students began to stand, unable to sit any longer as the air of anticipation thrummed beneath their skin. "Just who are you pulling for?" She asked of Devon.

"Gryffindor, of course." Devon laughed back, "I'm pulling for Draco to get hammered by a bludger or two."

Lillian couldn't help but to shake her head in bemusement; _yes_, they were talking about her cousin, her blood, her _family_ – but she couldn't help but to be happy that Devon had moved past the stages of grief, even if that grief had turned into anger.

All further conversation was stalled when the teams entered the pitch, a roar of noise greeting the players as the stadiums seemed to shake from the sheer force of the yells.

Lillian vaguely noted that there always seemed to be a bigger turnout for matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor, she figured that the larger number of spectators was due, in part, to the fact that Slytherin was so incredibly disliked. So on days like that one, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff banded together to rally for Gryffindor, seeing how the lion's team was the only House that stood a chance against the snakes.

Everything about the game was very standard, Madam Hooch had the team captains shake, and if Lillian knew anything about competitors, it was that the captains had probably been staring each other down and gripping harder than necessary whilst doing so. Madam Hooch's whistle then sounded the beginning of the match and all fourteen players took off into the air, already struggling to score points and throwing around taunts whenever possible.

It was when Lillian noted her cousin and Harry stopped off to the side of the pitch that things started to stray off the beaten path.

A black Bludger seemed to be making a bee-line for Harry, nearly knocking the Gryffindor Seeker from his broom before one of the Weasleys came upon him, snapping the Bludger towards Adrian Pucey, only for the Bludger to suddenly change paths and veer _back_ towards Harry.

Confused, Lillian watched the ensuing struggle as, no matter what the two Weasley Beaters tried to do, and no matter how hard they tried to hit it, that same black Bludger just seemed bound and determined to nail Harry off of his broom, no matter the cost.

"I thought Bludgers were supposed to go after every player," Devon demanded once she caught sight of Harry racing from one end of the pitch to the other.

"They are," Theo called back over the roars of their housemates.

Lillian lifted the hood of her robes to cover her head and shield her eyes as it started to rain, never looking away from Harry and the seemingly rogue bludger until Hooch's whistle sounded and the teams had gone to ground.

"If they aren't supposed to focus on one player," Devon questioned, "Then why is it trying to kill Potter?"

"It's been tampered with," Came Blaise's mildly intrigued tones.

It was the sound of that intrigue that had Lillian turning her head to regard the taller boy, but when she looked, she couldn't see his expression; not with the shadows cast by his hood or the sudden torrential downpour of rain making it near impossible for her to see details.

Her mouth had just parted to question him when the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle pierced the air once again, signifying the end of the impromptu timeout and the renewal of the strange game. But the timeout had done nothing to help Gryffindor, if anything, it had merely given Harry the time needed to ditch his bodyguards and face the Bludger on his own.

What proceeded to follow that ill-thought out plan of his was a series of twists, curves, and turns that oddly resembled a roller-coaster ride and had the stands in an uproar of laughter until suddenly, Harry stopped. His top lasted for just a few, short seconds, but those seconds were all it took.

The Bludger side-swept him, knocking the boy from his broom until only the grip of one knee kept him in the air. One hit seemingly not enough, the Bludger returned, Harry just barely managing to swerve out of the way before his head was knocked off and he had somehow managed to use the momentum of his swerve to turn himself right side up on his broom once more.

And then the drenched, red-cloaked Seeker was heading straight for a laughing Malfoy. _Devon just might get her wish_, was Lillian's only thought as she registered the sudden twist of fear lining her cousin's expression, that fear making her own heart pound hard beneath her chest as her left hand snapped out, latching onto Blaise's forearm as though that simple touch would prevent Draco from suffering any form of injury.

She didn't question her sudden decision to latch onto Blaise; for it had come to be some sort of unspoken ritual of theirs—her tendency to reach out to him and his tendency to catch her when she slipped or needed assistance. They didn't discuss this habit of theirs, and she no longer worried about the spontaneous contact angering him considering he hadn't ever withdrawn from her before.

Thankfully though, the racing of her heart and the subdued fear beneath her skin was short-lived by Draco quickly diving out of Harry's way; but then Harry was falling. Falling from his broom and careening quickly towards the ground to land in what looked to be a pool of mud.

The severity of Harry's fall was undermined by the simple fact that, he had miraculously, somehow managed to catch the Snitch. The game was over, and Gryffindor had won.

"_Bloody hell_," Theo and Devon exclaimed in perfect synchrony.

"You have to give Gryffindor some respect, their dedication is admirable." Lillian noted quietly, slowly uncurling her fingers from around Blaise's forearm, her hand sliding away to rest within the folds of her robes to protect her ungloved fingers from the cool downpour of rain beating against the world.

"Or foolish," Blaise muttered lowly beside her, so low in fact, that Lillian knew she was the only one that had heard him.

"There's a certain foolishness to bravery, wouldn't you say?" She countered, turning to regard his shadowed features curiously.

He didn't answer, before he could Devon was tugging on her robes and pulling her out of the stands, Blaise at her back and Theo in front of Devon, leading the way through the disappointed, angry Slytherin crowd.

Late that night, Lillian found herself sitting alone in the common room reading through one of Devon's muggle books; she was sitting nestled in the corner of the leather couch positioned before the slowly dying fire when she got a surprise visit from a wayward House Elf.

"_Dobby_?" Lillian questioned, confused as to why the Elf would risk punishment to come to Hogwarts.

"Miss Lillian, Dobby did bad. Dobby did something _really_ bad." He whimpered, tears in those large eyes of his, his bony hands wringing themselves in the dirty linen of his pillowcase.

Shutting her book, she unfolded her legs from beneath her so that her feet rested on the carpeted floor. Leaning forward she gently enveloped Dobby's hands within her own, her thumb rubbing along his knobby knuckles soothingly.

"What is it you've done Dobby?"

"I-I," He gave a watery sniffle before throwing himself at her, and as her own arms wrapped comfortingly around him, he confessed to his list of transgressions – a list that wasn't really a list at all, just two things really.

"Shh, Dobby, _shh_." Lillian soothed quietly, withdrawing from the frail elf to gently massaged his sore, battered, bat-like ears. "It's okay. I'm not angry," She assured, "But you know you shouldn't have done that, right?"

"B-but it's dangerous for Master Potter to be at Hogwarts!" He cried.

"But Harry's old enough to make his own decisions, Dobby," She sighed, "He _has_ to make his own choices, you can't make them for him, even if that does mean he could get hurt." Dobby lifted his hands to cover his mouth, "Do you understand Dobby?"

He nodded, she sighed in relief, "_Good_, you'll wind up getting yourself into trouble in your attempt to keep Harry out of it." She took note of the dirty stains to her old pillowcase. "When you return home, in the chest at the foot of my bed, are some mended pillowcases. Take one, okay?" Lillian instructed; she had given the little Elf a new pillowcase before she left for school but from the amount of work he was forced to do day-in and day-out, it was no surprise the cloth was already dirty.

"Thank you Miss Lillian," He murmured gratefully, eyes shining with tears of joy instead of pain.

Leaning forward, she pressed a soft kiss to the growing bump on the side of his head – a bump no doubt caused by his own self-inflicted punishment – before whispering a soft '_you're welcome'_ to the little elf that disappeared with a wide, beaming smile.

After Dobby's departure, Lillian remained where she was sitting, just staring at the last flickering embers of the pale green fire, her thoughts whirring, before picking up her borrowed book and heading for bed.

Had Blaise planned on joining her, he would have already, so she figured there was no point to waiting any longer, not when her book wouldn't continue to distract her as it had been – her mind was too preoccupied by the possible dangers Dobby could have been speaking of, the role her Guardian had in aforementioned danger, and her current _lack_ of relationship with the closest thing she had to a brother to be distracted by children's stories.

She didn't realize that Blaise _had_ shown up, and that he had just remained unseen as she spoke with Dobby; Blaise's golden caramel eyes observing Lillian as she waited for him a few moments after the house elf's departure.

He waited in thoughtful silence until she gave up and returned to the girl's dormitories before, he too, returned to his dormitory.

* * *

_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs:_

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: **Thank you! :)

**Moon-Chan**: Ah, so patient of you! I wish I could say the same, I'm the type of reader that has to read the last chapter, I have to know that I'll like the ending, otherwise I won't buy it. :*. They're not too far from their 'reunion' (_so to speak_), at least I don't think they are. haha. Not so much wrapped around her finger, more along the lines of he can respect her - as much as a professor can respect a second year student, that is. haha.

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: Bank on it during christmas holidays! I know for sure that she'll be seeing him then, but I'm not too sure how many chapters away that is.

**Narraratoroflife:** You and me both! I have some serious plans for that! ;) It is sad, but if you think about it, Harry's life is kind of depressing, haha. Thanks for the review! :D

**StrawberryObsession**: I'm glad you did! Tell you what, it will most definitely be an interesting reaction. ;) Hope you enjoyed the little (_very little_) dose of Draco, here. There will be more of him relatively soon-ish (_and yea, i realize that's an answer that doesn't really answer anything, sorry!_)!

**Guest 1**: Thank you! And I'm glad you liked the little flash of temper, I'm trying to slowly integrate it into her character because I have some wonderful scenes mapped out in the future kind of like that one. :) It'll be interesting, haha! And no problem, I'm content to know you're still reading but thanks for taking the time to review for last chapter; it's always appreciated! :D

**Guest 2**: Thank you! :)

**Guest 3**: Are these your theories on what happens? 0.o

**Guest 4**: Sorry about that! Maybe it just hadn't been approved yet? Or are you talking about last chapter? If you are, _so_ sorry if I missed replying to your review! _But_ thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I hope you enjoyed this little Lillian x Blaise moment! ;)

**Pysco-babydoll**: Thank you! Hope it was worth the wait! Yes! Lillian x Blaise shipper! I have so many plans with them, it's almost torturous how long I have to wait to execute them. haha. Hope you enjoyed this snippet of them! :)

**Guest 5**: Thank you! And no worries, I've got no plans on stopping anytime soon. :D

**Guest 6**: Here's your chapter 8! Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next Friday for chapter 9. :D

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


	9. Silent Charms and Parselmouths

_**AN:**_

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, new and old, **thank you**! Getting those emails seriously makes me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you seven (_all beautifully wonderful **7 **of you_)! Ya'll make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

* * *

Lillian was in the library, having just returned _Moste Potente Potions_, in search of a book on mythical creatures, when she came upon the most ghastly smell.

Nose scrunching up in distaste, Lillian followed the smell until she came upon Neville Longbottom, the second year Gryffindor scouring the shelves of the invisibility section; jumping at the faintest of sounds.

"Longbottom?"

The chubby boy jumped, dropping what he had clutched in his hands with a short shout that would have had Lillian smiling if not for the fear making the other boy tremble.

"L-Lillian." He stuttered, hands fumbling with the gaudy, foul-smelling green onion hanging from his neck.

By Monday morning, the whole school had heard of Colin Creevey's attack. The first year was currently lying as though dead in the hospital wing, and by Monday evening, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices had swept through the school.

Lillian wasn't wholly unsurprised that Neville had acquired a few of the things.

Slowly, as to not startle the skittish boy, Lillian moved forward to pick up what Neville had dropped, picking up the two devices, she extended the newt tail and purple crystal for him to take.

"Neville," She questioned once he had reclaimed the protective devices, "Why have you bought these things?"

"For p-protection." She had figured that much.

"You're a pureblood," Lillian pointed out, in case the boy had forgotten; which was entirely likely, considering he was awful at remembering things.

"Yea, b-but i-it went after Filch first and h-he's a squib, and everyone knows that I'm a-almost a squib."

He _was_ rather poor at magic, Lillian couldn't help but to agree silently, but – "_Almost_," She stressed, 'You're _still_ a Wizard Neville, so why don't you do us all a favor," She gestured to the smelly garb of onion he wore, "Throw that ghastly thing away."

Neville smiled, his round face flushing red in embarrassment, "I'm not the brave sort."

"If it makes you feel safe, that's all that truly matters," Lillian countered reassuringly, "Keep the newt and crystal if it makes you feel better but they'll work just as well without the onion." She offered as she turned away from the boy and made for a different aisle.

She had just made to turn out of the invisibility section when Neville called out a stuttered, but strong, 'thank you'; Lillian gave him a soft smile in return.

A couple of weeks later, in the first week of December, Lillian found herself listening to Devon's groans and complaints as they worked over their cauldron one afternoon in Potions.

"I can't believe you're leaving me here, _alone_."

Lillian rolled her eyes as she focused on stirring the Swelling Solution thickening in the cauldron they were sharing with Blaise and Theo. "You'll have Theo."

"But he's a bore," Devon smirked.

"You're a right load of dull yourself Maccabee," Theo retorted with a scowl, which set the two of them off into a continuous bout of teasing as Blaise and Lillian ignored them and continued to work on their potion.

Theo and Devon were quieted, however, when a loud 'plop' rent through the air, causing the Slytherins surrounding Goyle's cauldron to look over curiously. Not even two seconds later and the boy's cauldron exploded.

Lillian had reacted at the first signs of trouble, her wand extending and a burst of blue light erupting as the entirety of the class – sans Devon, Blaise, Theo, Lillian herself and the Gryffindors on the other half of the room – were showered by Goyle's potion, their classmates shrieking as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them.

Lillian ignored Theo and Devon's gaping looks, Blaise's curious one, and instead looked around to inspect the damage.

Draco had gotten a faceful of the solution, his nose had begun to swell like a balloon; Goyle was blundering around, his hands over his eyes which had expanded to the size of a dinner plate – and Professor Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what had happened.

Lillian's attention, however, was pulled to Hermione, who had just slipped into Professor Snape's office amidst the chaos.

"Silence! SILENCE!" The loud shout pulled Lillian's grey gaze from the professor's office and to the furious man himself. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft – when I find out who did this –"

Lillian's gaze automatically flickered towards Harry, and she watched him laugh as Draco stumbled towards Professor Snape's desk, her eyes automatically narrowing.

She knew who the culprit was, and she was anything but happy. Despite the fact that Potter was laughing just at the misfortune of her cousin, half the class – mostly Slytherins – had arms like clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed-up lips and despite the hilarity of the situation, someone could have seriously been hurt and no matter the reason Harry had done it, _that_ was unacceptable.

Movement from the corner of her eye had Lillian watching Hermione slip out of the Professor's office, the front of her robes bulging. Lillian felt her jaw clench at the sight, the outward show of displeasure not going unnoticed by the three Slytherins around her; they followed her gaze to Hermione, who had to have felt their gazes, for the Gryffindor girl turned her head and caught Lillian's eyes.

Lillian didn't bat an eye when the Gryffindor girl suddenly turned a sickly shade of green, her chin automatically lowering to the floor as she scurried back to her own cauldron. In fact, Lillian kind of delighted in the way the girl had squirmed; normally, she had a sort of soft spot for the frizzy-haired second year, but normally, she wasn't condoning the harming of other students…but Lillian guessed that since it were Slytherins being harmed, that made it okay.

"Lillian," Devon placed a hesitant hand to her friend's arm, withdrawing her hand quickly when Lillian turned darkened, stormy eyes towards her.

Devon felt shock course through her; _wow_, she hadn't _ever_ seen Lillian so angry before, hadn't ever seen her eyes become so stormy in appearance, and Devon would be lying if she said she wasn't just a little be afraid of her friend in that moment.

"Are you okay?" She questioned quietly; sure, she was a little nervous at the sudden anger transforming normally calm grey eyes, but transformation aside, Lillian was Devon's closest friend, and Lillian wouldn't ever hurt her.

Lillian gave a short, sharp nod and Devon effectively let the subject drop, turning her worried heterochromatic gaze towards Blaise, silently asking for help, but Blaise wasn't paying her any attention; his gaze was riveted to the new side of Lillian they were seeing, a side that showed a temper that belied her very nature.

Professor Snape's irate tones filled the air, jerking Devon's attention from Lillian's sudden show of temper, "If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, having fished out the twisted, black remains of what looked to be a firework, "I shall _make sure_ that person is expelled."

Lillian noted how the Professor's gaze was pinned to Harry, and she couldn't help but feel a note of satisfaction; Professor Snape couldn't prove it was Potter, but he knew, and Lillian's temper was partly calmed. Professor Snape would find some way to punish Harry Potter, and presently, that was enough to assuage Lillian's temper.

A week later, the last week of classes before holidays, Devon came bursting into the common room, a wide smile gracing her features as she walked straight for the table tucked in the corner of the common room; where Lillian, Theo, and Blaise sat bathed by the green light of Black Lake, books opened and spread before them.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" She announced excitedly, standing at the head of their table proudly, hands to her hips and a light of mischief in her gaze.

Only Lillian and Theo looked up, Blaise hadn't deigned the topic of conversation important enough to lift his gaze from his book. "A Dueling Club?" Theo questioned, curious.

"Yes, the first meeting's tonight, I've already signed up." She announced.

"Do we know who's running it?" Theo inquired.

Devon shrugged; she hadn't really thought to look.

"My guess," Lillian leant back in her seat, quill spinning between her fingers as she took a break from her essay, "Would be Professor Lockhart, considering he _is_ the Professor of Dark Arts."

Devon stuck her tongue out at her friend's teasing tone, "Does that mean you're in?"

"I think not," Lillian shook her head in soft objection; Professor Lockhart couldn't teach her anything she hadn't already learned, or anything she couldn't teach herself.

"Of course she isn't," Theo snorted, "Why would she need to? She cast a _silent_ Protego charm just last week."

Lillian offered a shrug, but no further information on the matter; she knew Devon and Theo were curious as to just _how_ she had managed the charm silently, but she hadn't offered any explanations. And really, there _weren't_ any explanations to be given; she had been doing magic since she had made her first trip to Azkaban, had _trained_ with Aurors for a few summers once she had come of age to properly learn and wield magic.

She had no explanation to give aside from the fact that she had been doing magic longer, but not even that was a proper explanation because the Aurors she had worked with had been just as surprised; some grown wizards couldn't perform silent spells.

"Theo?" Devon inquired after accepting Lillian's silence on the matter of her casting of silent charms.

"Bloody hell," He muttered before shutting his book and standing, "Why not? If anything, it'll be entertaining." He muttered, "Where do I sign up?"

"Follow me," Devon instructed, happy to not be doing it alone, though she knew had she truly asked, Lillian would have joined with her.

Lillian probably would have gone, however, had she been aware of just what would transpire that night during the first Dueling Club meeting.

Devon had stormed in later that night, cheeks flushed and out of breath as she exuberantly explained to Blaise and Lillian just what they had missed.

"He talked to a snake!"

Lillian's brows drew down, turning her head to silently question whether Blaise knew just who she was talking about, he answered her question with a simple shake of his head.

"Who did?" Lillian inquired.

"Harry _bloody_ Potter!" She practically shouted, "He was dueling Draco, who conjured up a snake, and Lockhart, being the sodding idiot he is, tried to vanish the snake, right? But the snake just got bigger and turned on some Hufflepuff whose name I can't be bothered to remember, and right when it was going to strike, _bam!_" Devon's hands clapped together, Lillian couldn't help but smirk.

"Devon, what happened next?" She implored when she realized that Devon's exaggerated handclap was meant to explain everything.

"Oh, right," She nodded, "Well, Harry began talking to it. I couldn't understand a bloody thing he was saying, he sounded like a snake himself."

Shock coursed down Lillian's spine, had her sitting up a little straighter, "Potter's a Parselmouth?"

"A Parse-a what?" Devon questioned, chest rapidly rising and falling as she bent over, hands to knees as she fought to catch her breath.

Devon had run straight to Slytherin's common room, racing through the empty halls to beat the crowds; she had wanted to inform Lillian of the event as soon as she could – Lillian was the only one Devon could question for answers without fear of reprisal or being lied to.

"A Parselmouth," Blaise answered, intrigued, "The tongue of snakes."

"But … he's Gryffindor, if he could speak to snakes, wouldn't that have placed him in Slytherin, wouldn't that be a Slytherin trait?"

"Yes," Lillian agreed, mind elsewhere as she answered Devon's questions, "But even for Slytherin it's uncommon."

"Why?"

"Because only the heir of Salazar Slytherin should be capable of speaking it," Lillian informed, "We're the House of Snakes _because_ Salazar Slytherin had been a Parselmouth."

"Does that mean that Harry _is_ the Heir of Slytherin?"

Lillian's eyes narrowed in thought, she doubted it. She stood by her earlier decision, Harry Potter _wasn't_ the Heir; but that didn't explain her god-brother's ability to speak to snakes.

Harry Potter was pure Gryffindor, his father had been Gryffindor – one of the most famous Gryffindors in Gryffindor history – and so had his mother. Gryffindor ran through Harry's blood but—Lillian felt her heart twist, cool dread making goose bumps ripple across her skin.

James and Lily Potter had been Gryffindor, but Voldemort…Voldemort had been Slytherin.

Lillian didn't know all of what had happened the night of the Potters' murder, the only truly solid thing she knew, was that her Father _hadn't_ been the one to commit the heinous act of violence. What she _did_ know, was that Harry Potter had somehow survived the killing curse when his own parents hadn't.

Maybe, just maybe, the fact that he survived had something to do with his ability speak to snakes.

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_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs:_

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: **Thank you! I'm really glad you liked the different interactions! :D

**Moon-chan**: Yay! I'm glad you're okay with waiting! I hope you liked this new twist to Lillian and Hermione's relationship as well. He will, eventually. haha. Lots of things will come out to light in the next installment. :)

**Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape**: As quick as any Friday comes around. ;)

**Dauntless14:** Haha, I'm okay with you never getting over them! Unfortunately, that wait will take some time! But all good things come to those who wait, right? Theo and Devon scenes will probably be displayed once I start posting extras upon the completion of the CoS installment. I'm sensing some Theo love on your part, haha. ;) I will take it all into consideration and I hope you continue to love Lillian's story and all of it's developments. :)

**Guest:** :D I'm so glad you liked that bit. I try and get my Blaise x Lillian in wherever I can considering their youth. haha. It makes me smile whenever I write those interactions, displaying the caring side of Lillian (_esp. in regards to Dobby_). Hope chapter 9 didn't disappoint!

**StrawberryObsession:** Blaise love! I love it. haha. I hope you enjoyed this quasi- Lillian and Hermione exchange. Hermione did tend to be really snooty in the books, especially later in the series and I didn't want to forget that aspect of her character. You may just very well end up seeing more interactions with Snape. :)

**Foxe165:** I'm just happy to know you've read and enjoyed it! But thank you for taking the time to tell me that you enjoy the story! Hearing _(seeing)_ that always makes me smile. :) I'll do my best to stick to apt character portrayals and I hope you continue to anticipate the rest of the story (_and consequently I hope Lillian's story never disappoints!_).

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


	10. Two Causes and Unforgotten Celebrations

_**AN:**_

* * *

To my plethora of followers and favoriters, new and old, **thank you**! Getting those emails seriously makes me smile.

To my reviewers, big thank you to you nine (_all beautifully wonderful **9 **of you_)! Ya'll make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D

x

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The good thing about being a second year Slytherin with the last name Black, was that even if students didn't fully understand _why_ they were supposed to be cautious around her, they were _still_ cautious; which meant that despite all of the other students who were being jostled, pushed, and elbowed every which way in the cramped, crowded corridor, Lillian was _not_ being jostled, pushed, or elbowed.

She was given as wide a berth as physically possible in the space provided, but that wasn't saying much on a train flooded with hyperactive classmates and traffic was _ridiculous_. Most of Hogwarts had decided to return home for Christmas, and as such, there was a flood of students who were unaware just what a winter holiday train ride entailed.

The morons didn't realize that nothing was different between the train ride home for Christmas than any other train ride home; and thus students were peaking into almost every compartment in search of a familiar face or empty seat, which consequently prolonged Lillian's own journey to her compartment, making the normally two minute journey a fifteen minute ordeal.

She was two seconds shy of withdrawing her wand and pointing it at the other students just to get them out of her way when she finally came upon the compartment that had quickly become _their_ compartment; 'their' being she, Blaise, Devon, and, on occasion, Draco.

When she slid the compartment door close with a tad more force than was normal for her, Blaise pulled his attention from the window to look at her, his gaze unwavering.

"More people than usual have decided to return home for holidays." She said by way of explanation; and that was enough of a response because she knew that he was aware of the discomfort she felt in crowds.

"Draco has decided to stay," He noted, the prompt a subtle maneuver for answers.

She leant against the clear door softly, "It'll be the first Christmas we've spent alone since I became a Ward of the Malfoys." She noted, all previous bouts of her irritation leaving her in the face of that realization.

Every year for as long as she could remember, she would lay in bed with Draco on Christmas morning; they would talk for hours, about anything they wanted to do, everything they couldn't do, everything they shouldn't do. It was one of the few times in the year that they could interact without the pressures of formality or acting, there were no facades; they were just two kids, two cousins – cousins who were more like siblings than anything else – and it had always been a rather liberating experience.

It often helped them both to stay strong, helped them to keep their sanity in a world that would only become more cutthroat, more particular about accepted behaviors, the older they became.

She didn't like it, but they hadn't spoken in weeks and Draco had no reason to believe that she had forgiven him just yet; so instead of dealing with the repercussions at home, where it would be impossible to ignore her ire, he had elected to remain at Hogwarts. Draco couldn't know that as Devon's hurt transcended into anger, Lillian's own anger had dissipated, the hurt buried into the deep, confined parts of her Gryffindor heart to leave only the quiet sorrow she felt at his lack of presence in her days.

Shaking herself from her silent reverie, she ignored Blaise's continuous, studious gaze in favor of clamoring onto the seat across from him and pulling down one of her luggage bags.

Gracefully stepping from the cushioned seat, she rifled through the confines of her luggage until she found a simply wrapped, rectangular-shaped package that was of a hefty weight and firm texture. Sitting the package along the bench she would claim as her own, she withdrew her wand and aimed it at her misplaced bag.

She murmured the spell to lift her luggage back onto the metal holding, the unhurried wave of her wand motions a synonymous show to the relative ease in which she spun her magic. "_Wingardium Levio-_" But before she could finish the spell, her bag was lifting until it rested upon the desired location.

"They'll think you're the Heir," Blaise noted once she had reclaimed her seat, his eyes lingering on her wand until she had tucked it away into the folds of her robes. She was undeniably skilled, and as soon as the school caught wind of her power, it would make her even more dangerous in the eyes of their peers.

"I'm a half-blood," She countered, "It can't be me."

"I'm aware," Blaise responded, "But others aren't. Most don't even know why they should fear the Black name." If they were to learn she could do silent spells, they wouldn't _need_ a reason to; had she been in any house besides Slytherin, others would be impressed, but power in Slytherin equated solely to the execution of dastardly deeds.

"My ancestors would be so proud." And it was true, they would most definitely enjoy the fear the _Noble_ House of Black was still acquiring; especially since Lillian was the descendant of _the_ black sheep of the family. She was the descendant of the one that had chosen good, the one that had chosen _Potter_ and yet, her father had given even more strength to the bad Black lineage. Her father had been the one to _further_ the cause of the Dark Lord the best.

The irony did not escape her.

In the face of Blaise's contemplative silence, Lillian picked up the package and offered it to him. A miniscule widening of golden eyes spoke of his surprise as he accepted the package in a lazily firm motion that told her he was curious, but unwilling to show her his intrigue.

"You didn't think that I had forgotten, did you?" A quiet tease that had his lips quirking in one corner as his lowered gaze studied the package. "It's both for Christmas and your birthday," She explained, "But you aren't allowed to open it until you've returned home." She instructed.

His head lifted and he quirked a brow in a silent challenge, "Humor me." She said in response, a slight hint of cheek to her tone that had his lips quirking once more and his chin tilting downward in silent acquiescence.

The rest of their trip was spent in amicable silence, and when it came time to depart, Blaise accompanied her through the corridors and into the station. Keeping to her side until the crowds had dissipated and she had caught sight of Narcissa, waiting poised and elegantly just beyond the fray of reunions taking place.

Lillian turned to her slightly taller companion; a companion who had turned his attention to her once he had spotted Draco's Mother in the distance. "Have you found your parents?" She inquired.

When his line of sight shifted, she turned her head to follow it, surprised to find his parents waiting calmly at the other end of the station, his beautiful mother smiling softly up at her husband as she spoke to him.

The sight of Blaise's father smirking – smirking in a manner eerily similar to Blaise's own mouth quirks – and the knowledge that Blaise had escorted her until she had found her Guardian, had Lillian smiling, her eyes darkening a shade or two in warmth as she regarded the Slytherin boy. "Have a wonderful holiday, Blaise," She murmured softly, "Give your parents my regards?"

He nodded his affirmation, "You as well."

When Lillian reached Narcissa, she looked back to track Blaise's movements, and she couldn't stop the small spread of a genuine smile when she spotted him; he had just passed the doors leading from the train, which meant that he had waited a good few seconds before he had turned from her and made his way for his parents.

"That was the Zabini's child, correct?" Narcissa mused, pulling Lillian's attention to the blond haired woman who was gazing thoughtfully across the Station.

"Yes," Lillian confirmed.

"Is he acquaintances with Draco?" Narcissa inquired as they headed for the platform exit.

"They're friends," Lillian responded, telling Narcissa that the boys were more than just alliances and that their relationship was genuine, _despite_ their overt lack of time spent together.

Narcissa's brows rose in obvious surprise, she hadn't expected for Draco to befriend someone of such power; because though the Zabini's were neutral in most matters of politics, they _were_ prominent, powerful figures in both the wizarding and muggle world, and Draco – god bless his soul – tended to associate with those with less power than himself in order to ensure dominance and control. Narcissa didn't personally know the Zabini's child, but she knew enough of both Nadia and Nicolai, to know that Draco wouldn't ever be able to assert himself over a child of theirs.

Then Narcissa recalled the way the boy had accompanied Lillian; recalled the way that Lillian had smiled at the boy when Lillian smiles were gifted to those few and far between.

_"Are you the one that sent the letter_?" The sudden remembrance had Narcissa regarding her niece from her peripheral.

The question had been asked nearly a year prior during one of Madam Deverity's social functions; they had come across the Zabini family in passing and Nadia had made the query to Narcissa's niece, who had confirmed the Lady's question without pause.

The remembered exchange caused Narcissa to wonder, were Draco and Blaise friends from their own merits? Or had Lillian been the one to transform a possible alliance into something more?

Narcissa doubted she would ever truly know the answer to those questions, but she knew her suspicions were not unfounded and were, in fact, completely plausible.

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_**AN:**_

_Special Shout outs:_

**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: **Thank you! No Theo here, and I apologize in advance for the distinct like of Theo for the next few/couple of chapters!

**Dauntless14:** Thank you! I actually didn't know much about Theo (_or Blaise really, aside from what I saw in the movies_) before I started this series so I'm really glad that you've liked what I've done with him (_and Blaise_). I'm glad you liked the show of Lillian's anger, I'm trying to slowly implement that aspect of temper into her personality, because it comes in handy later in the series. I couldn't have said it better myself! Sirius is Sirius - and he's the kind of character that you love but kind of hate at the same time (_at least in regards to what I've got planned for him in my installments_). [Side note that is completely unrelated to CoS, so forgive me::Are you a fan of the Divergent series?]

**Lizzie Salvatore**: ;)

**Mira SeverusSirius Snape-Black**: I don't know about you, but this Friday came by _super_ fast for me. Like, it feels like it's still monday fast. :)

**Moon-chan**: Thank you! I'm glad you do, I'm slowly implementing that 'firecracker' bit into her personality, it'll be an instrumental part of her personality, especially when it comes to certain future interactions. ;) I couldn't resist throwing that in there, I'm glad you liked it too, because I was slightly worried it would be too far stretched for her to logically figure out. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**StrawberryObsession:** Thank you! I'm glad you thought so. Some of it's innate skill, because despite the crazy bloodline, she hails from some powerful people, and some of it's all of her advanced reading. Good question - spoiler alert now, she won't know, because, as you may have realized from this chapter, she won't be there (_however, another slight spoiler, that doesn't mean Devon can't react_). They will have a moment together, really, really soon. And it'll be a big one too, so look forward to it!

**Foxe165**: Thank you! I'm so happy that you're anticipating it! And it makes me superbly happy that you like Lillian! :) tgif? ;) Surprisingly enough, I already have a tentative plan for Devon's end game romance, however, it _is_ subject to change so my mind is open. Personally, I absolutely abhor love triangles, god there's nothing more frustrating; but as I said before, my mind is open so, who knows? 0.o And yea, I agree, it would be pretty difficult for her and Draco to be the endgame, not after the blood slur _(twice)._ Tell you what though, I can't _wait_ until I can delve into that stuff (_stuff being romance_). Happy Friday and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Guest 1**: Yes, yes she is. haha. And next chapter! I'm glad you found it interesting, and that you like her badass-ness. I figure she's got to be a force to be reckoned with for her own reasons and not just because of her namesake; and who's to say that the only powerful ones had to be Harry and Hermione? 0.o

**Guest 2**: I live to please! haha. Even if that takes a few days. Here's chapter 10, see you for chapter 11! :)

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed, but they _aren't_ mandatory.**

**If you follow, favorite or review; this is my preemptive show of gratitude! Thanks, y'all rock!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next Friday,**

**x**


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